From the Other Side
by xSilverWingsx
Summary: Yet another arranged marriage fic because we can never have enough of those! AU No massacre.
1. Chapter 1

Notes:

Hello everyone who dropped by! First of all, this story is still being written and planned, I already have a general idea how I want it to go but you know how it is, sometimes the plot runs ahead of us. Second, this is AU, you will be able to tell how as you read, I won't go into details because that would be a spoiler.

* * *

If Shisui had to pick his favourite part of this mission, it would probably be this, the coming home part. It wasn't that he hated his job, but after two weeks in Wind Country getting sand everywhere (and he really meant everywhere) even his usual enthusiasm had been sanded (ha!) down to nothing.

He missed his own bed. He missed being able to take a shower and feel clean afterwards. Not to mention that Uchihas were simply not meant to endure weeks of Wind country sun without consequences. His skin was starting to peel again, how attractive.

The first cool shade provided by the tall trees of the Fire country was like a balm to their spirits, he could feel his team's enthusiasm to get home by the way they all picked up their pace without prompting. Anbu or not, the level of done in his team was palpable.

They arrived in Konoha late in the afternoon, just when the scents drifting from the restaurants were beginning to invite those who roamed the streets to come in for a taste. There was a collective groan from behind him as their hunger seemed to catch up to them. Days of nothing but ration bars did that to people, it made them crave real food almost as badly as Shisui craved his bed right now.

He did not envy his taicho. While they were dismissed as soon as they reached the village, reports to be written and handed in aside, the team leader had to report immediately to the Hokage and as considerate as Namikaze Minato was, none of them wanted to wait another hour to get some real food and rest.

And he almost made it, too, but maybe it was his mistake to head straight home. He didn't count on Itachi stopping him halfway into the compound. "Itachi," Shisui greeted, taking his mask off to give his best friend a tired smile. "Here to greet old me?"

"Yes and no," the boy answered in his naturally calm way. "Otou-san asked me to fetch you."

Shisui slumped with a groan. Really? He hadn't even managed to change clothes and already the Head of their clan wanted to see him. It couldn't be anything he had done, he hadn't been back for that long. "Am I in trouble or something?"

"I don't know, have you been giving the shopkeepers a hard time again?"

"Hey! I'm just keeping them on their toes, they're growing too lax with the quality of the sweets around here."

The boy fixed him with a blank unimpressed stare before he turned on his heels, clearly expecting Shisui to follow. And he wasn't wrong. If Fugaku called him specifically then it must be important. They made their way to Itachi's house together, keeping to the rooftops to avoid bringing attention to his Anbu uniform.

"How was your mission?" Itachi asked at one point, falling back to keep pace with Shisui.

"Gritty," Shisui answered, a large grin under his mask. Itachi stared at him, again with that same unimpressed expression (that was his default expression when dealing with Shisui's humour, Shisui liked it better when he used to puff his cheeks and pout), before turning away with a sigh but Shisui could clearly see the twitch on his lips. "It wasn't too bad, we completed it before schedule and no one was hurt too badly." Seeing as it was a simple recon mission no one should have been hurt at all, but Shisui decided not to mention the nasty scorpions that inhabited the desert and loved to sting unsuspecting careless shinobi.

The house was quiet when they entered, not unusual for an Uchiha house, but at this time of the evening, he would have expected Sasuke to be home and come to greet his brother at the front door. That kid was adorable, he was often tempted to steal him away, but he knew he was too young to face death by angry Itachi.

"Where's little Sasuke?"

"Kaa-san took him to get groceries."

Unsaid was the fact that it was probably Fugaku's idea to get his curious younger son out of the house. Both boys took their shoes off at the genkan before walking deeper into the house, straight to the spot where they could sense Fugaku's strong chakra.

Itachi parted the sliding door to the family's sitting room, revealing the older Uchiha sitting in front of a low coffee table, a pile of files in front of him. "Tadaima."

"Okaeri," Fugaku greeted, turning then to nod at Shisui, silently greeting him as well. "I trust your mission went well?"

"Yes, Fugaku-sama."

"Good. Sit, we have much to discuss."

The door was slid shut behind him. If he wasn't so sure that Itachi loved him like a brother and Fugaku prized his abilities, he might have felt like a trapped animal. As it was the thick tension in the room was enough to make the tiny hairs in the back of his neck rise.

Once the two boys had made themselves comfortable, Fugaku laced his fingers in front of him, resting them loosely on the table. "Are you familiar with Shimura Danzo?"

"He is an elder of Konoha's council," Shisui answered readily, his brow furrowed, "he was also the one who suggested Itachi to the Anbu."

Fugaku nodded. "The very one. Today I was summoned to see the Hokage. He informed me that there is a strong possibility that Danzo will try to steal our sharingan, but not just any sharingan." And the way he stared into Shisui's eyes as he talked made a shudder run down Shisui's spine. He knew what was coming. "The Hokage believes Danzo will target you for your Mangekyou Sharingan's ability."

"The kotoamatsukami," Shisui breathed, stunned. "But how could the Hokage know this?"

Fugaku shifted uncomfortably in his seat, his already stern expression growing darker. "He wouldn't say. I don't believe he knew all the details."

"So what, I steer clear of Danzo until the Hokage takes care of him?"

Killing intent oozed from the older man in waves and by his expression it didn't look like he was even bothering to reign it in. Fugaku looked murderous, Shisui had never seen the usually collected man look so ready to tear into someone.

"The Hokage can't take care of him. Danzo is too influent to be taken in without solid proof. The sandaime and the rest of the useless elders would never allow it. No, we must take care of your protection ourselves."

Shisui traded a wide-eyed look with Itachi, the younger boy looked calm except for the slight widening of his eyes.

"What do you want me to do?" he asked Fugaku. He would defer to him, Fugaku wasn't only his clan leader, he was also personally invested in Shisui's future since Shisui was one of the most powerful ninjas of his clan. Whenever the clan popped a kid strong enough to make everyone stop and take notice it was a matter of pride to them, and as Uchiha, they took care of their own.

"Produce some heirs."

"What?!" he exclaimed. He had heard Fugaku wrong, right? Temporary partial deafness was a thing, right? Maybe that scorpion had stung him harder than he originally thought.

Fugaku spread the files in front of him and opened them to reveal photographies, all of them of young pretty women with the dark Uchiha eyes and pale skin.

"But why? A mangekyou's ability isn't passed down by blood."

"True, but there is a higher probability for a child of your blood to inherit that particular ability."

"With all due respect, Fugaku-sama, but I'm not going to impregnate women until another kotoamatsukami shows up," Shisui snapped, affronted by the very idea.

"You are not. You are going to pick one, marry her and then you will impregnate her."

Shisui gaped at the man, not believing his own ears. "An arranged marriage?"

"You are powerful, the elders of our clan would have pushed for it at one point if you took too long to pick a wife on your own. It would be a waste for your talent to end with you."

Shisui frowned and ducked his head. He knew what Fugaku said was true, the clan was encouraged to marry within the clan to preserve the purity of blood, arranged marriages weren't rare, if he remembered correctly Fugaku's and Mikoto's marriage was arranged when they were children, it was pure luck that they ended up suiting each other so well. Still, he was sixteen, far too young to be forced into this situation, even if by shinobi standards he had been declared an adult by the age he made genin.

"Can I at least get to know them before I decide?"

"Of course. This will provide the perfect cover for your stay within the village, the Hokage agrees and he has made plans to place you within the team of handpicked anbu that are responsible for his protection. We will oversee your protection until Danzo is no longer a threat."

"Thank you, otou-san," said Itachi from Shisui's right, bowing his head respectfully. "I will protect Shisui as well."

Fugaku nodded like he expected nothing else from his son. He pushed a file towards Shisui, and then another and another until all of them were on Shisui's side of the table, like a crowd of beautiful faces, staring him down like he wasn't worth the time of their day let alone their hand. He probably wasn't, what did he have besides his power? He wasn't from an influential family, the money he made was used to support both him and his mother, any girl worth catching the council's eye had to be special in some way, at least he thought as much.

At first glance he could immediately recognize a few of the girls in the pictures, two of them had been in his class back in the academy, another was the daughter of the owner of the dango shop he and Itachi usually went to, one of the girls with lighter hair was the daughter of the seamstress who had a store down the street from his apartment. Overall they were just pictures, pretty pictures that told him nothing about the person they depicted.

Itachi, who was looking at them over Shisui's arm, pointed at one specific girl. "I like Seiko-san, she gives me free dango," he offered. Of course she did, everyone thought Itachi was an adorable kid.

"Isn't she a bit old?" Shisui asked, pulling the file named Uchiha Seiko closer to him so he could read her info.

"She makes good dango," Itachi countered, "her father told me she makes all their dango herself."

"Itachi, I'm not going to pick my wife just so you can indulge in dango."

"Really good dango."

"Fine, really good dango."

Itachi nodded, satisfied that that had been cleared out and quieted down to let Shisui read but Shisui noticed him discreetly pushing the other files away. Well, no point asking who had Itachi's vote.

Uchiha Seiko was... unremarkable really. She had the standard Uchiha beauty but there was nothing in her picture that jumped out to him. Straight long black hair, darker than his and Itachi's, probably closer to Mikoto's colour and therefore Sasuke's, in the picture it was down but he knew that she often wore it up in a high ponytail while working at the store. Her eyes were all Uchiha, black and narrow, sharp in an otherwise soft face.

A closer look revealed that she was a civilian, and not even one of those that had spent a few years in the academy only to then quit. She had no training at all. That wasn't as surprising as one would expect, her family owned a business and as far as he knew her younger brothers were shinobi, someone had to take care of the store and help their parents, as the eldest and the only girl the role naturally fell to her.

That was a point in her favour if the council had their say. A civilian woman was less opposed to having children younger, while kunoichi often thought more about their own careers and had children later in life.

"I don't know, Itachi, she seems very plain," he confessed.

"That's rude," his friend pointed out. "You should give them all an equal chance."

"I guess she's better than Miss high and mighty over here," he said, pushing one of the files away. The seamstress daughter wasn't a nice person by far, she took pleasure in mocking the less fortunate in their clan, the orphans who couldn't afford more than hand-me-downs. He refused to spend even a second in her presence. He noted, though, that unlike with Seiko, Itachi didn't comment on his own comment. Give the kid some sweets and he was a goner.

Shisui looked over the other files with half-hearted interest putting them in a pile by order of interest and pushing aside the ones that didn't look like they were a good match for him. To Itachi's visible horror, Uchiha Seiko's file ended near the bottom of the pile.

"May I take these, Fugaku-sama?"

The man nodded, gathering the other files Shisui didn't plan on taking in a neat pile. "You know where to find me once you've made a decision. The council has given you until the end of the month to narrow it down to two possibilities."

The end of the month was two weeks away... Maybe he should have cut down the number a little more, two weeks to get to know six girls.

….He really should have taken the longer route home.


	2. Chapter 2

Despite the tight schedule, Shisui decided that he needed at least one day to relax after his mission, one day where he could laze about the house doing nothing but sleep and maybe start on his report.

Unfortunately, Itachi didn't seem to get the same memo.

The younger boy showed up at his door not long after ten in the morning, intent on dragging Shisui out in search of food. ("There's nothing edible in your apartment," "you don't know that!" "I know you."). He tried to argue, he really did, but his stomach was a traitor and as soon as food was mentioned, it growled like some fierce beast, reminding him that he never did get dinner last night, preoccupied as he was with his impending engagement.

With a huff, he went to get dressed, allowing Itachi into his apartment while he waited. Moments later the distinct sound of things being thrown into his trash can came from the kitchen. He could only guess the state the take-out had been in after close to three weeks in his fridge.

"Are you going to throw out the fridge along with all my food?" Shisui asked, watching from the doorway. The look the younger teen was giving the interior of his fridge made him think that he was contemplating doing exactly that, he knew that look well, it was the same kind of look Itachi gave him when they trained, 'would the pain of a punch be worth the chance of grabbing hold of Shisui' it spoke. "Come on, it can't be that ba—IS THAT MOULD?!"

"Yes, it is."

"...I have been away for a while."

Aaaand another unimpressed stare. Okay, so maybe some of that take-out was older than three weeks. It's not like he was the most meticulous Uchiha around, but he hadn't died yet so that ought to be worth something, right?

Right. "Please stop looking at me like that. I've been busy, I'll clean it up before I put fresh groceries in there, I promise."

Itachi nodded, satisfied with Shisui's answer though he had a nagging suspicion that Itachi was going to follow him home like a very tiny, but intimidating, Anbu to make sure he did as he told. Ever since Shisui's father died and his mother distanced herself from his life it was like Itachi decided that someone had to make sure he kept himself alive, and who better for the job than Itachi himself.

Maybe he should have been offended that his best friend saw him as someone he needed to take care of like he did with Sasuke, but he had learned early on that when it came to Itachi, and all Uchihas in general, the more you struggled the more they pushed right back and don't even think about refusing their help because they will go right behind your back and do it their way anyway.

"What are you in the mood for?" Shisui asked Itachi once they hit the streets of the Uchiha compound.

"Kaa-san left breakfast before taking Sasuke to the academy," Itachi said, "but I wouldn't be opposed to some tea."

"Unbelievable, he drags me out of bed and he doesn't even need to eat," Shisui muttered to himself, sounding for all intents and purposes like a pouting child. However, his mood was soon forgotten as the bookstore at the corner of the street they were in came into view. "Hey, Itachi," he called, gesturing to the bookstore with a subtle tilt of his head. If he remembered correctly, and he always did (ninja and a sharingan user had their advantages when it came to memorising information), one of the girls was supposed to work in this store. A former classmate back from his academy days, Uchiha Hisaya.

"Mother's birthday is coming up," Itachi mused, walking into the store without any extra prompting, Shisui quickly followed.

There was a girl behind the counter, she didn't look up from her book when they entered so he couldn't see her face but from her posture, she looked relaxed.

"Excuse me," Shisui called, leaning against the counter. The girl startled and looked up.

"How may I... oh, it's you," she answered, her full pink lips pinched in barely concealed distaste.

That... was not the response he was waiting for. He knew he wasn't as popular as Itachi or some of the older jounin but he was well liked by the clan in general. For this girl, who he barely knew, to feel some sort of negative emotion for him seemed strange.

"Have I offended you or something?"

Hisaya's dark eyes fixed on something over Shisui's shoulder, they flickered nervously between that direction and Shisui. She pushed a lock of her dark chocolate coloured hair behind her ear and closed her book with a snap.

"You must be here because of the engagement thing," she guessed quietly, going straight to point. "I will be honest, I don't wish to marry you, Uchiha Shisui."

"Oh..." That hurt, why did that hurt. "Was it something I did back in the academy?"

"No, you were never long in my class," she looked over his shoulder again, and by now he could only guess that she was looking at Itachi as he browsed the books around the store. "When Fugaku-sama first offered the engagement, I refused, I continue to refuse even now but..." her hands clenched on the book. "There's already someone that I'm seeing, a kunoichi from outside the clan, my parents don't approve. They want to push me to marry a good man from our clan, they went behind my back and gave Fugaku-sama the go ahead."

"Does he know?" Shisui asked finally understanding the nervous way with which she observed Itachi. She probably didn't like Fugaku very much right now but with Itachi nearby, she couldn't speak freely for fear of offending the boy.

"As long as you don't pick me, it won't matter," she pointed out with a weary sigh. "I'm sure there's plenty of girls who would jump at the opportunity, you and I don't need to settle for someone we can't possibly come to love."

Shisui frowned as he considered her words. Was that even possible? Out of the remaining five girls was it even possible to find one he could come to love and cherish? He had never fallen in love before, there was always something else to do, another mission to complete, another training session to go to. Whatever free time he had he spent with Itachi and they didn't normally talk about this sort of thing. Did he even know what he liked in a girl?

"I understand," he finally spoke after a few seconds of awkward silence. "Thank you for being honest with me."

The first real smile reached Hisaya's eyes, she bowed her head respectfully. "Thank you for understanding." A mischievous glint entered dark eyes. "I'm sure you will find someone, too. I know for certain that one of the girls is a fierce admirer of your finer qualities, hopefully, you'll get along."

"Really?" he asked, an odd mix of eagerness and bashfulness bubbling in his chest, "who?"

"That's a secret," she whispered, one small pale finger held to her smiling lips.

"How do you know this?" he asked. He wouldn't go as far as to say Hisaya was lying to make him feel better, but if she was, well, it was certainly working. There was a giddy feeling inside his chest, excitement mixed with nervous energy.

"Girls talk about boys with their friends. You've come up a lot recently."

He wanted to ask more but Itachi seemed to sense the shift in the mood and finally came up to the counter with a book in his hands.

"Another romance?"

"My mother likes them," Itachi answered, "father sometimes reads them over her shoulder, I don't think he knows that we have noticed it."

Now, that is something he did not need to know about his clan head and by the look on Hisaya's face, she seemed to be of the same opinion.

She busied herself wrapping it up before handing it to Itachi, accepting his money in return. "Please come again," she called out to them with a bow as they left the store.

"One down in a day, if this keeps up I'll be done in less than a week," Shisui mused quietly. At least he had gotten a juicy piece of information. "And now it's too late for breakfast, we might just settle for some early lunch."

"Was she not your type?" Itachi asked, tilting his head to look at Shisui curiously.

"Considering that she seems to like girls it would be more correct to say I'm not her type," Shisui joked with a grin. "But I don't know, do I have a type?"

Was there something in a girl he especially liked? He had found some girls attractive before, girls he liked to look at but never had a real conversation with. In the end, he would have to let go of those perceptions, beautiful or not, he would not marry a person he couldn't stand. He liked the idea of someone sweet and gentle, probably a civilian, someone who could hold him together after a hard mission, who wouldn't mind putting up with his sense of humour and even found it funny and joked back instead of giving these long-suffering looks Itachi was so fond of. That would be nice to come home to.

"I think I'll know when I find her," he whispered, looking up into the clear blue sky with a longing that was painful enough to make his eyes burn. "C'mon, enough about this love and marriage stuff, let's get some food so that I have enough energy to kick your ass later. You need to show me how much you've improved in these past two weeks."

If Itachi noticed that way he avoided looking into his knowing eyes he didn't mention it. The kid really was the best of them.


	3. Chapter 3

There were some advantages to having a steady sparring partner. For one, he didn't have to ask around for anyone willing, his free time was scarce at best and he didn't want to spend it looking for someone who wasn't intimidated by the Uchiha name or his own. Itachi was also painfully honest with him, if he messed up and left himself open, Itachi had no problem pointing that out with a swift kick to the unprotected area. Best friend or not, they both knew pain was a great motivator to improve.

They knew each other's strengths and weaknesses, Shisui, for example, had the bad habit of stretching his reach with his tanto as far as he could when he attacked, leaving his right side open, if his opponent was fast enough they could move right past his attack and get into position to deliver a punch to his side. Itachi had done it more than once, despite his lower speed. It was something to work on, just like Itachi's stamina.

For all the power that he had, Itachi tired rather quickly, his stamina was too low for a jounin, something they both hoped was due to his young age and growing body. It didn't stop Shisui from teasing him though, just like it didn't stop Itachi from sending a barrage of flaming shuriken his way.

There were some disadvantages, too, of course. Having the same opponent all the time meant that he wasn't improving quite as much as if he had a different opponent with different styles of combat. They were good but they were both solid shinobi, they had their own styles and they didn't stray far from them. This could have been easily fixed with a few spars with the other anbu or jounin of the clan, but again, time was scarce and he enjoyed sparring with Itachi far more than he enjoyed sparring with anbu who were bound to get angry when they realised they couldn't beat him. If only Kakashi wasn't such a lazy ass, he doubted the normally relaxed man could get angry during a spar.

"You are distracted," came a voice from his left, Shisui barely had the time to pull back, avoiding a punch that even with the distance still managed to graze his jaw.

"My bad, I was thinking," Shisui apologized with a grin. Itachi was panting now, they were finally making a dent in his stamina. "You lasted longer this time. How is your chakra?"

Itachi closed his eyes, releasing his sharingan to look within himself at his reserves. "I have enough," he offered, "I can keep going."

"This is enough for today," the last thing he wanted was to fully deplete their chakra. He might get called to lead a team at any moment, despite the mandatory time off they were given after a long mission. "Besides, I think someone else is dying for your attention."

Itachi's brows twitched, the beginning of a furrow between them. "Sasuke." No longer had the name left his lips did the boy burst into the clearing, a pure look of adoration on his face.

"Nii-san!" he exclaimed, running up to Itachi. "Were you training? Will you train with me?"

"I guess I'm invisible," Shisui sighed, his hand draped dramatically over his heart.

"Shisui-nii-san!" Sasuke swivelled to look at Shisui, smiling as brightly as a tiny sun. "You're back!"

"See, this is how you greet people, Itachi, why aren't you this cute anymore?" Shisui whined, draping his arm over Sasuke's thin shoulders and pulling him close to his side, having to bend a little at the knees to do so. "Now, all you do is kidnap me off of the streets and chase me with a mop when you think I haven't cleaned up well enough."

"You never clean up well enough."

"Your brother is a sourpuss, Sasuke, keep him all you want."

Sasuke looked positively gleeful at the prospect of some time with Itachi. "Will you help me with my shuriken throwing, Nii-san? "

Shisui gave Sasuke a squeeze against his body before releasing the boy. "I need to work on my report anyway."

"And buy groceries."

"Hai, hai, and buy groceries."

Itachi nodded, satisfied that Shisui would survive another day without his supervision. The ass. He was perfectly alright by himself, he was older, too, damn it. Fine, he wasn't the best at playing house but he had been living by himself for a year now and he hadn't died or burned down the place yet. So his flat was a little dusty… Maybe he should invest in a maid. Was there a maid service for shinobi around the village? He would have to look into it.

By the time he reached the village proper again the sun was beginning to set, casting a lovely orange colour across the sky. His dark eyes rested on the Hokage mountain for a moment. Fugaku had said he'd be moved to the anbu stationed in the village to protect the Hokage, he should report in tomorrow. Itachi had done that shift once before with Kakashi but Shisui, due to his infiltration skills, was better put to work outside the village rather than inside.

He made a happy noise deep in his throat as he stretched his arms over his head, finally relaxing his muscles after the spar with Itachi. Groceries it was.

* * *

The next morning, Shisui delivered his report to his taichou in the Anbu compound before making his way down to the administration division, with some luck he would be able to meet with the Hokage.

The Hokage's secretary, an older civilian woman with piercing green eyes and thin pinched lips, took one look at him and the pen in her hand stopped moving.

"Uchiha Shisui-kun?" she asked, though by her tone it seemed that she already knew who he was but wanted confirmation.

"Yes, I'd like to see the Hokage, please," he explained, bowing his head a little. Most shinobi didn't much care for civilians or paper pushers, but Shisui knew that they held the power to cause a lot of headaches to a ninja. Disappearing reports were the bane of any ninja worth their salt. It was hard enough to get a ninja to sit down and fill them the first time around, now imagine doing it two, three times every time you pissed a paper pusher off.

"He mentioned that you would drop by," the woman muttered to herself, setting her pen down and rising from her seat. "This way, please."

She stopped in front of the familiar door guarded by two Anbu. It wasn't often that he came to the Hokage's office through the front door, Anbu always shushined directly into the office. Her knock was answered almost immediately by Minato's voice.

"Shisui-kun is here to see you, Hokage-sama."

Whatever answer came from the inside, he didn't hear it but the woman gestured for him to enter.

Minato was leaning against his desk, his ever-present haori laid discarded on his chair, leaving the man in the standard jounin uniform that he wore underneath. He really had been waiting. For what, Shisui didn't know, not yet at least. Did he expect Shisui to respond to his situation with anger? Most people might have and some might even have called Shisui a passive fool for his lack of it. Except that Shisui wasn't one to give in to anger easily, nor was he keen on submitting to his anger someone who had done nothing to deserve it. He knew that the Hokage would never have suggested an arranged marriage, the man wasn't from a clan, he didn't understand how tradition worked like those with the Uchiha or the Hyuga name. He couldn't be blamed for the shrewdness of his clan's elders.

Shisui stopped in front of the blond man and bowed. "Hokage-sama, reporting in for my new duties."

Minato levelled him with a calm but no less calculating stare, almost as if he was trying to see into Shisui's mind with his eyes alone. "If you don't mind, there is something I would like to show you first, Shisui-kun." He grabbed a small sheet, the only paper upon his desk that looked out of place as it was not placed in one of the neat stacks resting on the left side of the huge wooden desk and held it to Shisui.

The younger shinobi took the paper and looked it over. It was thick to the touch, textured, the kind of expensive stationary used for formal invitations from well-off families or clans. Despite the general preferences for scrolls, it wasn't as rare now as it might have been a few years back. There was a message in the front, a mix and match of random characters that made no sense at first glance. It was written in a neat hand, but not the kind that might belong to a master of fuinjutsu like Minato, and as such one trained in calligraphy. but still, the lines were clear and precise without being rigid.

"Do you recognise the handwriting?"

Shisui's sharingan flared to life as he gave the symbols a second look, but it was no use. "I don't, I'm sorry."

"It was a long shot anyway." Minato relaxed back into his desk, putting more of his weight on it. "And the words?"

"They look like someone picked a few random kanji and put them together, " Shisui confessed, his fingers found two familiar shapes, separated from each other by a few random characters. They formed his name, his given name. The correct form of it, too. He always wrote his name with katakana to avoid confusion with the pronunciation, but now here they were without context and in reverse order.

"This message was delivered to my office two weeks ago by a courier. It didn't take long for the cryptanalysis team to break the code. This is the original message that informed us of Danzo's plan to take your eyes."

Shisui's sharingan spun faster at Minato's words, memorising the characters with an urgency he didn't fully comprehend. This was it, his only clue as to who his shadowy saviour might be. He had thought the Hokage to be the one to uncover Danzo's plot but this proved him wrong.

"May I see the decoded version?"

"That is no longer possible, it was destroyed within the hour of being delivered to me. We couldn't risk Danzo seeing it. The same will happen to the one you hold now."

Shisui frowned but he didn't comment, quickly handing over the paper in his hands back to the Hokage. "You think it's someone that I know?"

"Not necessarily. This is the second message I have received in such manner, both had the same sort of code. Both times the trail has led to a dead end. As I said, it was a long shot."

He didn't ask what the first one had been about and the Hokage didn't supply more information. In the end, he left the building more confused than he had entered it, his only orders to report to the Hokage residence early in the morning. Sometimes he wished he wasn't such a good shinobi, maybe if he tried harder to ask what and how and why he wouldn't be left scrambling for answers as often. This was his life, he deserved to know what the hell was going on.

No matter, his eyes had memorised the handwriting, he could replicate it now and he would, along with all the words fixed upon his mind and he would see what the Hokage had seen.


	4. Chapter 4

**Note:** Thank you guys so much for the favs and the follows and the reviews! Especial thanks to **Tonegawa Rie** who has reviewed all chapters so far, it really makes my day to hear your opinions.

-xx-

'Well, this is boring.'

Two days into his new duty as Hokage guard and he was thoroughly convinced that this must be some sort of punishment. It wasn't that he hadn't done guard duty before, everyone had a few shifts guarding the gate to Konoha once they'd hit chunnin but somehow the experiences felt completely different.

For one, guarding the gate came with a booth and chairs. Guarding the Hokage meant spending eight hours on his feet in the same exact spot. As a gate guard he was never alone, and while at the moment he wasn't alone either, he might as well be. Anbu had a sort of mysterious aura they were meant to preserve and that brought with it silence. He hated silence. Not to mention that at the gate everyone who came in or went out had to register at the entrance, there was a constant flux of people to interact with, here if he was lucky he might find someone who was feeling generous enough to give them a good morning.

Kakashi, his shift partner for the day, hadn't said a word to him yet. He wasn't sure that the laid-back man hadn't found a way to nap while standing with how quiet he was being. Maybe he did his name more justice than everyone gave him credit for.

Other than his secretary, only a squad of four had entered the Hokage's office this morning. A jounin and three chunnin, typical A-rank mission team. He could only stare longingly at the scroll in the jounin's hand as they walked away. A pacifist he may be but he wasn't one to stay still for long.

It would be another silence filled hour before someone else came by and this time it was someone familiar. Kakashi felt them before Shisui did, it was in the way he straightened from his slight slouch. He hadn't bothered to do that with the secretary or the team so it was definitely someone he knew or found important enough to deserve his full attention.

The pair that came into view a few seconds later was nothing short of a surprise. A civilian Uchiha woman and a ninja dog. He only recognised one of them.

Even if he hadn't had her file sitting on his bedside table, he would have been able to recognise Uchiha Seiko from a distance, Itachi dragged him to her family's dango shop often enough that he was familiar with the staff. The dog that accompanied her was definitely a ninken but not an Inuzuka one, it had a headband wrapped around its neck and a blue jacket, something that the Inuzuka ninken didn't bother to use. They had their distinctive looks to differentiate them from normal dogs and they were rarely seen without their human partners.

So what was a civilian woman with a ninja dog doing in front of the Hokage's office? Wait… He glanced at Kakashi from the corner of his eye. Wasn't Kakashi the only dog summoner in Konoha? Their tracking skills put them up to pair with a trained Inuzuka and their partner or so said the gossip amongst the Anbu, it turns out silence was only golden when it was used during missions. Meet an Anbu in their changing room and they'll be as chatty as a pair of gossiping old ladies.

"Good morning," the woman said in greeting, stopping in front of his partner. She had a sort of lilt to her words that he had never heard before in the compound, they were always clear but accented, pleasantly rich. He had never heard her sing or hum but he could tell that she had a voice that would be worth listening to if she ever tried. "I would like to return this pup to its rightful owner, I found him asleep on my kitchen again, Kakashi." She didn't sound or look mad, in fact, the way she spoke it was almost like she was trying to hide her amusement.

Said pup sat next to the woman, within reach for one of her delicate hands to stroke its head and pull it close enough to her leg for a snuggle. The dog followed without complaint, leaning into the touch with a satisfied huff.

"Shiba," Kakashi chastised. "We talked about this before. Not in the nice lady's kitchen."

The dog's furry white tail thumped once against the floor in shameless acknowledgement and then with a poof he was gone. Cheeky dog, Shisui thought enviously, if only I could shushin away too.

Seiko sighed and swept the white dog hairs from her dark clothes. "Yesterday it was Akino and before that was Bull. I don't think I have to tell you how the rest of the staff reacted to Bull hanging around the shop's kitchen."

"Feed a dog once and you'll never get rid of it," Kakashi pointed out, in the sort of deadpan tone of voice that clearly said he thought she was as guilty as his dogs were.

Seiko must have realised as much because she flushed, a rosy colour high on her cheeks. "They get treats when they behave. You said that was okay when you dropped them off with me," she mumbled, embarrassed. "And I don't mind them, but the clan doesn't like them or how they keep sneaking in."

Shisui stood off to the side, trying to appear like he wasn't paying attention to the conversation that he felt like he was intruding in.

"I will tell them to drop it but no promises, I don't own them, they own me."

"And they aren't afraid of letting you know it, yes, I know," the girl muttered sounding like she was echoing the words someone might have told her before. She pulled a scroll with the Hokage's seal from her pocket.

When Kakashi made no move to take it from her for inspection, Shisui held his hand out to accept it. Her attentive gaze finally fell on him, or more specifically, his mask, she was probably trying to figure out what sort of animal it was meant to represent, most people did that when they wanted to address an Anbu. The beak-like features pointed to a bird but rarely did someone guess which one. Their eyes met, onyx to onyx, there was something like recognition in hers.

"A crow… of course."

His head tilted to the side in silent question.

Seiko gave him a tiny smile. "There's only two Uchiha I know with such pretty eyes and you are a bit too tall to be Itachi."

That… was a first. Powerful, intimidating, he was used to but pretty was a first, his eyes were always spoken of as a weapon, he wasn't used to having their aesthetic beauty pointed out. Especially to his face. His very red face.

He ducked his head, quickly handing the scroll over, he hadn't even checked it but he would ditch protocol if it meant those eyes would stop looking at him like they could see straight into his soul. If Minato hadn't summoned her she would be out in a minute, anyway.

Seiko took the scroll from his hand, he was hyper-aware of the spot where his fingertips brushed around the skin of her palm. A compliment, it was all it took to turn him into an awkward fidgeting mess. But why? It's not like he had never been complimented before, his clan members often complimented his speed, his quick mind, his mastery over his sharingan. Could an idea really have changed his perception so much? He had never looked at anyone and thought 'this one, I could date this one', had he found girls pretty before? Yes. Had he wanted to date them? Not quite. Their interest had never bothered him but he had never felt the want or need to reciprocate. However, there was no denying that ever since the idea of a partner had been planted in his mind he had started to pay attention to people around him, like a teenage boy finally acknowledging his peers as someone he might want to get close to. He was beginning to get a sort of appreciation for full lips and how they might feel like against his, how long hair would feel as he ran his fingers through it, how the body of a civilian girl might feel in contrast to a fit kunoichi one. All those thoughts that should have hit him years ago, he wasn't used to them, didn't much know what to do with them. So he ducked his head, hiding his burning face, nevermind that his mask did that already for him, and as Seiko walked past him he tried not to react to her scent, sweet like ripe berries, it was mouthwatering.

For the first time since his shift had started, he could appreciate Kakashi's silence as he sorted out his thoughts and pushed the attraction to the back of his mind. Not the place or time.

"You seem close," Shisui awkwardly commented after a few minutes.

"Maa… I guess," was all the older man said.

Shisui waited for more information but when nothing more came he fidgeted in his spot. "Are you dating?"

"Not currently."

"But you were?"

"Maybe."

Shisui let out a nervous chuckle, Kakashi wasn't a man of many words but that was evasive even for him so Shisui decided to drop the subject, though part of him wondered if due to her age Seiko was being pushed into marrying someone within the clan, someone like him. He wouldn't have been happy if someone he was dating, someone he liked suddenly broke up with him because their clan was pushing them for an arranged marriage.

He hadn't met with any of the other girls so far, the encounter with Hisaya had left a bitter taste in his mouth but the more he slacked off the more pressure they would eventually put on him.

When Seiko returned from the Hokage's office he could instantly tell that something was different about her. She stood straighter like a great weight had been lifted off of her shoulders, her steps were no longer hesitant, but the biggest change was the brilliant smile that lit up her whole expression. It hit him like a kick in the solar plexus, how such an unrestrained smile could make a pretty girl look positively beautiful, the happiness on the usually stoic Uchiha features was both the weirdest thing he had ever witnessed and the most attractive.

'Oh,' he whispered deep in his mind, 'so that's how it feels like.'

He selfishly wanted that smile to be directed at him and him only. He wanted to be the reason someone's face lit up like that.

He had been fine for sixteen years, fine with a mother and a father who barely paid him any mind except for the way in which he could provide for them, sixteen years without gentle loving smiles and affectionate touches. He had been fine, or so he told himself.

The truth was… it only took four days and an idea for him to realise how lonely he was.


	5. Chapter 5

Shisui had never considered himself a vain person before. His looks had little to do with his ability to fulfil his missions and he knew that he had no choice about the clan he was born into. Whatever attractiveness his genes had granted him had always been outside of his control. And yet he couldn't help but stare into his bedroom mirror, trying to see what Seiko had seen. He supposed he did have pretty eyes, with long dark lashes, slanted and intense. They certainly drew attention away from his rounder (read: big) nose.

He sighed and allowed himself to drop backwards, falling heavily upon his bed. His eyes instantly sought the pile of files on his bedside table. Out of the initial five only three remained. He knew which one really drew his eye, at least for the moment but how was he supposed to go about it?

Genma made it look stupidly easy to ask girls out, even Kakashi had a sort of appeal that made people come to him rather than the other way around, it avoided the awkwardness of rejection on his part.

She thought his eyes were "pretty", that had to be worth something. And her name was on the list so it's not like she might turn him down, right?

In a rare moment of childishness, the shinobi on the bed flailed, a groan of pure frustration muffled by his pillow.

Rejection was a possibility, a very viable possibility after what happened with Hisaya but it shouldn't have made dread chur in his stomach the way it did. He didn't have any sort of deeper feelings that were at stake, rejection would just mean that he could put down her file and move on. Even a date wasn't a guarantee that he might come to like her. There was nothing to lose, not really.

"C'mon," he mumbled to himself, dragging his hands across his face, "stop being an idiot, Shisui, it's just a girl, you've faced worse." He couldn't remember when, but he was sure he had.

Five minutes was all it took to walk from his tiny apartment to her store, two if he had bothered to use the rooftops. He wasn't stalling, no really he wasn't, he was... mentally preparing himself. A mental image of Itachi's unimpressed stare™ flashed in his mind's eye causing him to pout.

It was still early in the morning so he wasn't surprised to see that the dango store didn't have more than a couple of customers, a few older Uchiha enjoying a cup of tea and some breakfast. Despite its name, the store didn't limit itself to selling dango. Sasuke, for example, wouldn't be caught dead eating that sort of sweet food, but Seiko had charmed him with some sort of jiggly cake (there was no other name for it, the cake literally jiggled when you moved it) that wasn't very sweet while still being delicious. It was also the reason Shisui didn't visit unless he was with Itachi, he didn't have the kind of sweet tooth that his friend had, most of the time he ordered some green tea and ended up only eating a stick out of his own dango order (never let it be said that Uchiha Itachi let good dango go to waste, the boy always made sure to finish Shisui's order).

Seiko didn't notice him right away when he entered, her attention completely taken by the flower arrangement she was working on behind the counter. He was no Yamanaka but he could recognise the yellow flowers as yellow daisies, the purple delicate looking ones, though, were beyond his basic knowledge. He took advantage of her distraction to lean against the counter and observe.

The deliberate way Seiko placed the flowers in the vase spoke of familiarity with the task. Her long delicate fingers were quick as they handled pruning shears, cutting the stalk and extra leaves before slipping the flower in the arrangement. His eyes followed the pale surface of her skin, from her fragile looking wrists (he could probably circle them with his thumb and middle finger and have some room left) to the bare creamy skin of her forearms. She was taller than him, would probably continue to be taller until he finally hit that last growth spurt. His eyes trailed up her torso stopping for a moment at the curve of her breasts before he caught himself and moved them upwards.

Shit. The corner of her lips was pulled up in a slight smirk but her gaze remained fixed on her task. She must have felt his gaze on her, damn.

"I used to be allergic to pollen," she supplied, blessedly ignoring his red face. "Spring and autumn were my own personal hell, runny nose, itchy eyes, constant drowsiness, you name it. I always thought it was unfair that a spring child couldn't even appreciate the season of their birth."

Small talk. The water to his fire. He was an Uchiha, he wasn't supposed to be good at small talk. There was a long awkward pause before he finally dared to open his mouth.

"How did you cure it?"

"Let's just say I grew out of it," she answered plainly like she didn't even notice the two-minute silence from his part, but the conspicuous smile she gave her finished work told him there was some sort of story there. "Now that that's done, what can I get you?"

"Just so tea, please."

"No cake?" she teased flashing him an impish smile. She was well aware of his lack of sweet tooth.

Shisui made a face but the prospect of food had his empty stomach growling. "Maybe some cake, too."

"I'll be with you in a moment."

The fluttering of nerves in his chest hadn't abated yet, in fact with each moment he waited the more anxious he could feel himself growing. He was practically squirming in his seat when his order was placed in front of him at the low table, which was ridiculous because it took dangerous missions to make him nervous and even then it was a sort of nervous that was spiked with adrenaline, it made his mind sharp. This just made him feel inept. He hated Genma all the more. Smooth little shit.

Seiko gracefully glided into the seat across from him, a fixed smile on her face.

His throat bobbed, he swallowed thickly. He had never found gracefulness alluring before but there was something about a woman who knew how to move with a silent confidence that was neither arrogant nor overbearing that tugged at something low in his abdomen.

"There is something I'd like to ask," she said, looking down at her hands crossed demurely on her lap. "The cherry trees are starting to bloom. Would you like to come to watch it with me this year?"

"M-me?" he croaked. Did she mean a date? It had to be a date, right?

"I'm asking you, am I not?"

"I-yeah, I can go," he quickly answered. "I think I have a late shift a few days from now."

Her posture sagged with momentary relief before she straightened again, a brilliant smile on her face. "This means I still have a chance."

Before Shisui could ask her what she meant, she was gone, her fingers burning the skin on the back of his hand with the shy caressed she had daringly brushed upon it as she passed him on her way back to the counter.

It all happened so fast that he was left reeling, his fingers twitched with the phantom sensation of her silky fingertips stroking the rough skin of his hands. He groaned quietly and buried his flaming face on his hand. He thought he heard a giggle from somewhere to his right but he didn't bother looking up from his suddenly very interesting teacup and cake. He couldn't finish them fast enough.

He didn't run out of the store but it was a near thing, his nerves were frayed and he wanted nothing more than to run back home and bury his head under his pillow and scream at how incompetent he felt at this crap.

"Shisui-kun!" Seiko's voice called him before he could stealthily make his way out. "Let me know once you check when you're free. I'll make us something delicious."

Shisui nodded and turned to resume flee-erm, walking out the door, hands stuffed deep in the pocket of his shorts. If it weren't for the red tips of his ears he might have looked calm and collected.

* * *

"Do you think I should bring a gift?"

"Yes."

"What?!" Shisui poked his head out of his bedroom, naked from the waist up. "Why are you just telling me this now?!"

"Why are you just asking me this now?" Itachi calmly shot back from his position on Shisui's couch.

"...I will sit on you, don't think I won't." Nevermind the fact that he wasn't all that much taller than Itachi at this point. That thread had worked a lot better when he could still carry Itachi on his back without it looking weird.

"Shouldn't you be more worried about the time, it's eleven thirty."

There was a bang from the bedroom and a curse before Shisui came out, looking harried but at least he was now fully dressed. "Okay, yeah, we can do this. Gifts. What should I get?"

A pause. Itachi continued to leaf through one of Shisui's mangas like he couldn't feel his friend's heavy gaze burning the side of his face.

"Why are you always like this?" Shisui complained in a whine, dropping next to Itachi on the couch. "You know her better than I do, what does she like?"

Itachi paused, his brow furrowing before he raised his eyes from the manga. "Perhaps some flowers?" He closed the book and carefully placed it where he had found it on Shisui's coffee table. "She also enjoys crafts but… I don't think that would fit the mood."

"Ten minutes to the Yamanaka's flower shop and back, it's doable. Does she have a favourite kind?"

"I don't think so. There's always a different bouquet at the store."

He had noticed that too. Most stores tried to keep a matching colour scheme, something that wouldn't clash too horribly and look out of place but the dango store had the strangest clashing bouquets he had ever seen. Most times the colours between the flowers didn't even compliment each other. Now that he knew that Seiko did them herself he had to wonder what kind of taste the girl had. Best not look too deeply into that, she had asked him out after all.

"I'll think of something when I get there." He dropped a hand on Itachi's shoulder. "Drop by later, okay? We can talk about your mission."

Itachi grimaced and sunk lower into the couch, looking like he didn't have any plans to move out of it any time soon. "Okay."

Shisui gave him a long searching look. Something must have happened, Itachi wasn't one to normally act so despondent after a mission. He would get to the bottom of that. Later though, for now, he had a possible fiancée to get to know.


	6. Chapter 6

**Note:** thank you so much guys for the reviews so far!

To LuciiChaan, I'm sorry, I can understand you but my written Spanish is abysmal so I hope you don't mind me answering you like this. The main theme is romance, yes, but I don't think it must make up for all of it, but it'll be very heavy on it for a bit because of the situation at this point.

To StephanieClara Sorry I wanted to answer you last chapter and I completely forgot Dx Hm let me see. I love a few works by Darkpetal16, specially Chipped Mask, there's also another very good story called Dragonfly by peccolia, both are rather big so they should keep you occupaid for a bit! Darkpetal has a lot of good stories.

-x-

Armed with a bouquet of orange and red flowers and a very sheepish expression, Shisui knocked on Seiko's door. He was late, at least ten minutes, too, but in his defence, it was Inoichi-san's fault. There was something wrong with the flowers he had picked, Inoichi's face when he had pointed them out and asked for a bouquet said it all. He couldn't understand why, they were a good colour, orange with hints of yellow and red, they were like fire. That's what he had thought when he had spotted them, anyway. Maybe the man wasn't a fan of orange.

The door in front of him opened. He saw Seiko's face brighten as she spotted him.

"You're here! I thought something might have happened."

"...Sorry, I wanted to get you something," Shisui explained holding out the bouquet, discreetly gauging Seiko's expression. She looked even prettier than usual, he liked the way her hair fell freely down her back for once, like a midnight black silky curtain.

As it happened to Inoichi (and that really should have been more of a hint than he gave it credit for), Seiko's brows furrowed and she cautiously reached out for the flowers. "Thank you, I don't think I've ever been given orange lilies before. That's… very kind of you, they are lovely."

Shisui made a noise of frustration deep in his throat. "You're making the same face as Inoichi-san. What is it? Are they poisonous? Is it the colour?"

Seiko shook her head, her pale fingers stroking the delicate petals. "That's not it. Orange lilies are rather… unique." She caught Shisui's eyes and held them in her unnervingly knowing stare. "Flowers can tell you more than you think if you know them well enough."

Shisui lowered his eyes first to observe the way her fingers continued to pet the flower. Despite her words, she seemed happy with them. "I can get you a new one if you don't like them."

"Nuh huh, they are mine now, you can't take them back," she teased pulling away from him, walking deeper into her house, the bouquet cradled lovingly to her chest. Her words effectively broke the tension between them. "Please, come in, I'll find a vase for these and grab our lunch."

There were no other chakra signatures in the house. Seiko's parents must be taking care of the store for today. He felt himself sag with relief when Seiko was no longer within sight. She wasn't mad at least, he didn't want to have his first date be a complete failure.

Shisui took a moment to inspect the pictures scattered around the living room. The two of them had never moved within the same circles, she was three years older, almost four, and a civilian, by the time he picked up a practice kunai for the first time she had already been in civilian school. She learned how to manage a business, he learned where to hit to kill a person with a single projectile. No matter how many people he saved, his hands would always be stained with blood, he hoped hers never would.

"What's with the scary face?" asked a voice from the couch.

Shisui startled, indeed there was a young boy sitting on the couch, he looked to be about nine or ten but there was already a headband wrapped around his skinny arm so he might be older than he looked. He must be Seiko's younger brother, they had the same smug grin and the same button nose, only on his young face it looked quite effeminate if it wasn't for his short hair and boyish clothing he might have passed for a girl.

"Sorry, I was thinking. I don't think Seiko told me your name. I'm Shisui."

The boy's nose scrunched in distaste. "Should you really be addressing Sei-nee-san with no honorific?" he admonished, arms crossed over his chest.

'Oh, no.' Was Shisui's only thought. Not another overprotective younger brother, he got enough of that from Sasuke, he didn't need another one.

"Just 'cause Sei-nee-san is too nice to point it out, you won't get away with it in front of me! That's Seiko-sama to you!"

"Jun!"

The boy pouted at his older sister and his arms seemed to tighten around his thin chest with indignation.

"He was being too familiar!"

"There's always something," Seiko muttered under her breath. She reached out and ruffled Jun's short, black hair. "Shouldn't you be with your team? I thought you had a C-rank mission today."

Any other boy might have ducked under the touch, their young face twisted with annoyance at their properly groomed hair being disturbed or just being messed with in general but Jun leaned into the touch, a mutinous pout on his face when he faced Shisui that quickly turned innocent when facing his big sister. "We'll leave after lunch."

"There are some leftovers in the fridge, do you want me to make a bento to take with you?" Seiko asked.

The boy shook his head. "I can take care of myself, nee-san. Are you going out?" He had noticed the basket by her feet.

"Aa, I'm going to kidnap Shisui-kun for the afternoon," she explained with a grin, there was a hint of mischief in her eyes, glinting despite their dark depths. "We should be going or we won't find a good spot."

He had never been to this sort of picnic before, or any picnic, really. He was a jounin with barely any time off and his family hadn't been close for a while now. Maybe when his father had been alive and well… cherry trees in full bloom just weren't something that he had ever been interested in. They found a spot along the Naka river on a grassy bank, Seiko laid a blanket down between two huge cherry trees.

"I didn't know what you like so I just made us a little of every finger food I could think of."

No wonder the basket Shisui had offered to carry was so heavy, who knew how much food she had packed in there. She looked so happy that he didn't have the heart to tell her that something as simple as sandwiches would have done.

"I heard Minato-sama had taken you out of active duty, I didn't believe it until I saw you guarding his office, " she murmured quietly once they'd taken their seats. Her hands were clasped on the fabric of her skirt. "Are you hurt?"

"No," he dropped back, lying fully on the soft blanket. "There were some… circumstances. I'm sorry, I don't think I can discuss it with you. Ninja stuff."

"I'm sure whatever it was it will be straightened out soon enough."

Her voice had a hallowed quality to it.

"You don't sound like you believe it."

"That's not it," she quickly corrected, "but I've seen what Anbu does to people. You and Itachi are too young, despite what Fugaku seems to think."

"But not too young to be married off?"

"An arranged marriage is only a means to an end. You only need to go as far as you want," her expression closed off with deep displeasure. "They can't force you to make babies if you don't want to, Shisui. They can make your life hell if you betray your spouse but it's your choice and that of your wife if you ever want to… you know, get on like that."

Shisui's eyes flashed red, not in anger but in curiosity. He wanted to remember the embarrassed expression on her face.

"Would you want to get on like that?" he dared to ask, turning on his side so he could face her. "With me."

"That's a very straightforward question."

"I'm a very straightforward person."

Her lips twitched with amusement at his quick reply. "You may be, I don't know you well enough to tell the difference."

He waited, fixing her face with a patient stare. Maybe it was too blunt of a question but he needed to know, he couldn't (and wouldn't) deny that he was attracted to this woman, sex was something that he could eventually come to crave between them. If she couldn't bring herself to have him like that, he wouldn't force her into a marriage of one-sided desires, it wouldn't be fair to both of them.

"I… Shisui, you are sixteen. Even if I did consider that option, I wouldn't expect you to do anything you didn't want."

"Would you ever be attracted to me in that way?" he pressed.

"Yes, I'm not blind."

"And not just to continue the bloodline?"

"Of course not, there's plenty of Uchiha doing that already. We aren't a dying breed despite what the council might think, " she huffed, rolling her eyes.

Shisui nodded, satisfied.

"Do I pass?" she teased.

"I don't know, I can't make a decision on an empty stomach," he shot right back with a relaxed grin.

"Oh, good thing I brought enough to feed a small army of hungry shinobi then."

And she really did. There were all sort of common dishes like onigiri, gyōza and kara-age and probably his favourite, nikuman, still warm. He couldn't remember the last time he had homemade food and it all tasted delicious. Once Shisui was positively stuffed and they began to put everything away, she pulled a container from the bottom of the basket.

"Hanami is never complete until you have one of these, " she teased, showing him the neat little balls of sakuramochi inside the box. "I never tried to make them before so please don't be mad if they are a bit too sweet."

Shisui stared down at the pink rice cake wrapped in the sakura leaf with something like wonder. He had never tried them before. He knew what it was but they were such a traditional hanami sweet that he never saw them outside of the short period of time that the sakura were in bloom. They looked so adorable he almost felt bad eating them.

Shisui picked one from the white paper moulds keeping the sticky cakes apart from each other. He should have expected that someone used to pounding mochiko would prepare special mochi for dessert. The thought made him smile as he brought the sweet to his mouth. The taste of sweetened mochi and red bean paste exploded on his mouth.

It was sweet, too sweet for his taste but she was looking at him with such an expectant expression that he forced himself to chew and swallow all of it.

"It's delicious," he praised because it probably was for someone who could appreciate it, someone who liked sweets more than he.

She smirked and he had the impression she read right through him because a cup of tea was pushed into his hands before she took one of the cakes for herself.

"Do you think you'll see Itachi today?"

"I think so, yes," he answered and was immediately presented with the mochi box.

"Would you give this to him? I saw him in the market this morning, he looked upset."

If that wasn't proof of how perceptive this woman was, he didn't know what would be. Itachi kept a perpetual placid face, even when he was upset, it took someone who really knew him or could look at the barely there signs to see what he really felt like.

"I will, thank you." Thank you for looking out for him more than thank you for the sweets, though he knew Itachi would appreciate both.

They spent the rest of the afternoon curled up in the blanket, talking in quiet voices while the sakura blossoms fell around them. It was the most peaceful he had felt in a long while.


	7. Chapter 7

**Note:** To **Tonegawa Rie** thank you for pointing that out, I forget to correct them Dx by the time this is out everything should have been reviewed.

 **Thank you everyone for the reviews so far.**

When he arrived home, Shisui found Itachi exactly where he had left him. Sitting on his couch, reading his manga, his expression perpetually bored.

"Tadaima," he greeted, taking out his sandals by the door of the apartment.

Itachi looked up, his eyes landing on the picnic basket before he greeted him back.

"Are you hungry?"

Seiko had sent him off with the leftovers and the basket. He was half convinced it was an excuse to see him again. He had to return it after all, and if he was honest, he didn't really mind. He dropped off the basket on his kitchen counter and the light slap of bare feet on wood told him that Itachi had followed.

Shisui pulled out the box of sakuramochi and laid it aside. "This is for you to take home."

Itachi wasn't a picky eater, despite his sweet tooth so it wasn't hard to prepare a plate with a little of everything. They took their plates to the small space with his couch and his coffee table so they could sit comfortably on the pillows he kept near the couch for this very reason.

"The Hokage pulled me out of the Anbu."

Shisui almost dropped his chopsticks at Itachi's soft-spoken statement. "What, why? You just made it to team captain."

"He said I'm not adapting as well as he'd like. I'm to be put back on jounin rotation," Itachi explained. "He wants me to take a genin team in a few years so I should get some more experience leading lower ranking shinobi."

Now, Shisui couldn't understand why Itachi might be upset about that, he had thought that this was what he wanted. He could even see why the Hokage might consider the option, Itachi was versed in all areas and he was patient, in fact, if he told Shisui that he wanted to teach in the academy in a few years Shisui wouldn't bat an eye.

He knew who would though.

"Your father…"

"He's not taking it very well."

Ah, so Itachi wasn't upset for his own sake, he should have known Fugaku's mood would have upset Itachi more than the news had.

No one would soon forget the constant puffed up posture Fugaku got about him every time someone talked about Itachi's progress, his acceptance into Anbu last year had been the talk of the district, if not the village, for weeks. Everyone knew the prodigy of the Uchiha clan. It must come as a hard blow now for Itachi to be demoted. Nevermind that this was exactly what fit Itachi best. The kid was practically a recluse, he didn't need the kind of cold treatment that he got in Anbu. Shisui fully agreed with the Hokage, Itachi wouldn't thrive in that sort of cruel environment.

"You can spend the night here if you want, the old futon might be a little dusty but it's better than dealing with an angry Fugaku."

Itachi nodded, but the pensive expression on his face remained. There were no more words exchanged at the table, both boys deep in thought. When Itachi opened the box Seiko had set aside for him, a sad smile appeared on his lips.

"Are you going to pick her?" He asked Shisui, though he didn't look up from where he was carefully pulling a mochi from the box.

"I don't know. Why?"

"I think you should."

Silence stretched between them while Shisui waited for Itachi to elaborate.

"I see her at times, by the Naka river. She always hums the same song and she always cries."

"You think she's sad."

"You're sad, too."

Shisui opened his mouth, fully intent on denying Itachi's claim, but the stare the younger boy shot him dared him to contradict his words.

"You know, that's still not a good enough reason to marry someone. What if we pull each other down?"

"Did you feel sad today?"

"Not the point, Itachi."

"You're thinking too much."

That's his future that was on the line, of course, he was thinking too much. "I still have a few days before I have to decide, I intend to use them," he stubbornly said in a tone that offered no chance for rebuttal. "But nevermind that. What are you going to do about your father?"

Itachi shook his head. "There is nothing I can do. If he wants to make a formal complaint to the Hokage I won't stop him but… I don't mind this outcome."

"Maybe you'll get to train Sasuke," Shisui teased, laughing at the trepidation on Itachi's face. "That would make for some awesome team dynamics."

He could picture it in his mind's eye, the horror on Sasuke's face when he realised that he would have to share his dear aniki's attention with two other people.

"I'm sure the Hokage would have more sense than that," the young boy muttered.

"His son is in Sasuke's class, right?"

"He is."

"How is he?" he couldn't remember coming across the boy, though, he knew that there was a full squad of Anbu in charge of watching over him.

"Naruto looks like Minato-sama but their temperament is nothing alike, he is… boisterous," coming from Itachi that was probably putting it mildly. He didn't remember the Hokage's wife, apparently she had died the day their son was born, whatever complications there were with the birth weren't made public, but it was possible that the kid had simply inherited her temperament, he couldn't imagine their Hokage ever having been boisterous.

"Well, I've heard he often has his Anbu guard scrambling, that's good enough for me, it shows talent," Shisui commented with a snicker. "I'm even happier that it's not me taking care of him."

"Don't say it too often," Itachi warned.

Shisui shrugged and put both of their plates on the sink to wash in the morning. He was dead, not physically but he felt mentally drained, all he wanted was to fall in bed and rest.

Together they pulled out Shisui's old futon and spread it out in the living room, a change of clothes was placed on top of the bedding for Itachi to sleep in.

"Do you think you could take a look at something for me before going to sleep tonight?" he asked. He reached for a pencil and a blank notebook that were sitting on his kitchen counter and from memory quickly wrote down the two lines of random kanji the Hokage had shown him a few days back. "What do you make of this?"

Itachi accepted the notebook, his eyes were quick as they took in the symbols. "A code?"

"Yes."

"Your name… it's written with the right kanji," Itachi pointed out making a circle around the kanji for death and the kanji for water.

"No one ever gets it right."

Itachi grabbed the notebook and the pencil and took them to his futon. Shisui took that as his cue to retreat to his own room, he knew Itachi worked better when he didn't have someone looking over his shoulder and Shisui, no matter how much he tried, was perhaps too impatient to keep Itachi company in silence. This was important to him, he had some vague idea of how the code worked but he needed Itachi's insight. No two minds worked alike and he was hoping that what he lacked in logic, Itachi could make up for.

He dropped in bed with a satisfied sigh. Overall, it had been a pleasant day. It didn't surprise him that Seiko turned out to be as kind and as plain as he had expected her to be. She was a civilian girl, born and bred to be malleable and pleasing to whomever she married. She would have been any Nara's dream woman and he didn't know what that said about him that he was seriously considering her. In a way it made sense, he lived a life full of excitement, dangerous excitement, his home should be a safe place for him to crash and recover. And she had that feeling about her, he hadn't agreed with Itachi before but she did make him relax, her unassuming personality allowed him to be himself without any sort of expectations. He didn't need someone to add to his troubles, what he needed was someone who he could share his burdens with. It was perhaps selfish of him, but something in Seiko's dark eyes told him that underneath the docile demeanour existed someone with a spine of steel, someone who wouldn't shy away from trouble when they came knocking. And they would, eventually. And it's not like he wouldn't be there for her like she was for him, if she was to become his wife, he would dote on her like it was expected of him. And if feelings grew along the way, he would take them for the blessing they were.

'I still have time,' he reminded himself again and again until the sentence lost its meaning and the ceiling blurred before his sleepy eyes.

Itachi was gone by morning, the futon was placed back in the cupboard and the sleep clothes were folded and placed in a neat pile on his couch. The notebook had been left on his coffee table, closed with the pencil on top of it.

Curious, he approached it, nudging the pencil away to open the notebook on the right page. What he saw made him gasp.

 _Namikaze Minato, you have heeded my advice before, I beg you to heed it once more. You must protect Uchiha Shisui, Danzo's lust for his power grows stronger with each passing day. He mustn't have the Kotoamatsukami._

It was simple and to the point, the kanji Itachi had used to replace the original one showed him the boy's thought process before it was arranged into proper sentences.

"Protect me…" he whispered, his fingers tracing the kanji of his name. "Who are you…"

One thing was sure. Whoever this person was, they knew more than they should. The number of people who knew the name of his mangekyou's ability could be counted on one hand and he doubted any of them would go through such measures just to keep him out of danger's way.

Once again, he was left with more questions than answers.


	8. Chapter 8

On the morning of the second day after he had his talk with Itachi, Shisui felt Fugaku's chakra signature enter the administration building.

In a way, he wasn't surprised, Fugaku was a proud man, wanting to defend his son's abilities before the Hokage was second nature to him, but Shisui couldn't fault him for it, every clan as old and as uptight as theirs had that sense of pride when it came to their prodigies. However, he was a little surprised that it had taken the man two days to drop by.

Shisui had thought he had dodged that bullet what with his off day yesterday.

He closed his eyes to better focus on sensing Fugaku's progress through the building. He wasn't the best, or even good, at tracking but once he familiarised himself with a signature he could always sense it when it came within a certain proximity. He only opened his eyes when the bright light that was Fugaku's presence stopped in front of him. One had to practice as they could, even when going through eight-hour shifts of doing nothing but standing and Fugaku was familiar and powerful, his chakra a bright beacon when compared to most shinobi. Itachi hadn't inherited his stamina problem from his father, that much Shisui could tell. He was greeted by the man's tall frame, dressed in his own brand of modified jounin uniform, the lines on his face all the more pronounced by his pinched lips. Shisui noted that he didn't look angry, despite the situation. But that begged to question. What else had happened to make Fugaku look so worried?

Fugaku knocked on the door Shisui and another anbu were guarding before turning to Shisui.

"Come," he ordered, "this concerns you as well."

Shisui silently nodded but inside his mind was filled with questions, none of which he dared asked while they entered Minato's office.

"Fugaku-san," Minato greeted, the mountain of paperwork on his desk looked much more manageable now than it had two hours before, when Shisui had taken over the Anbu on guard, but still Minato didn't rise from his seat, a pen poised over a sheet of paper while he contemplated his unexpected visitors.

Fugaku's expression tightened under the Hokage's gaze and Shisui felt the hair on the back of his neck rise from the feel of the older Uchiha's agitated chakra flow.

"Hokage-sama," a tiny bow of his head, "this morning we found two bodies washed up on the banks of the Naka river. Two Uchiha."

A shocked silence fell over the room but Fugaku wasn't done. Not yet.

"Their eyes were missing."

Shisui felt his body freeze but his mind rushed to connect the dots. Minato looked equally as shocked but there was a terrible kind of horror behind his blue eyes. Shisui knew he must have mirrored the look under his porcelain mask.

It wasn't unheard of for enemies to try and steal powerful dojutsus, he had met one such person before, but the eye had been that of a Hyuuga. It pained him to say it but it wasn't _rare_ , he might not even have blinked if it happened outside the village, but it hadn't. His clan had been attacked inside the village, by one of their fellow Konoha shinobi most likely. The village where they were supposed to feel safe and protected in had failed them and now they were dead.

And for what? A pair of eyes that whoever stole could never hope to use to their full potential.

He had gone too far. Danzo's lust might have been alarming at one point but now it was a threat that needed to be neutralised. Because Shisui knew that there was no such thing as coincidence here. It wasn't by chance that the warning had come, he could feel the importance of it settle over his shoulders the day the meaning behind the words became clear to him. What he couldn't understand was why two other people had to die when it should have been him.

Danzo wanted him, wanted his eyes, so why was he killing other members of his clan?

"Did they have the sharingan?" He heard Minato ask.

"They did."

"He wants my eyes so why…?" Shisui whispered, his voice so quiet and lost that if the silence in the office wasn't as pronounced as it was his words might have never been heard.

"We don't know that it is just your eyes that he wants," Minato explained soothingly all the while looking like he was in pain.

Shisui felt guilty and he knew that Minato and Fugaku must as well. They had closed a circle around Shisui to protect him and in doing so had deprived Danzo of his prey making him turn to someone else.

"But it is your eyes that he mustn't get to," Minato finished, his own blue eyes like two shards of ice. "Do you know how they died?"

"They were poisoned." Fugaku reached into his jacket and pulled out two black scrolls. "We don't have the tools to determine what kind of poison or how it was administered."

Minato took the scrolls with a nod. "I will have some poisons specialists look into it."

"He needs to be stopped, I won't lose any more of my clan to him, Namikaze," Fugaku warned if Minato was offended at being treated so rudely he didn't show it. "Men like Danzo don't make mistakes, whatever you are hoping to find, it won't be there."

They stared each other down, the air thick with chakra.

"There will be a meeting tonight, the rest of my clan needs to know they are being hunted. We won't hesitate to cut him down if we have to."

"Poison is not one of Danzo's speciality, we must take this into account. We might be blaming the wrong person," Minato paused to let his words settle before he continued, "or he might have someone working for him. The fact remains, I can't move against him without proof, he is still an elder within our council."

Shisui really hated politics. As if it wasn't bad enough to have to deal with clan politics he now had to get involved in the village ones.

"With your permission, I will have a team of Anbu patrolling the Uchiha compound at night, even if someone else is caught in a fight they will have some sort of backup nearby."

Fugaku nodded and only the loosening of the tightness on his face showed them that he was satisfied that Minato was taking measures to keep their clan safe. Shisui knew most of his clan felt ostracized, nevermind the fact that they had been the ones to want their compound completely separate from the rest, so it was always pleasing to be reminded that they were part of the village too and that Kohona's protection also extended to them.

Shisui was still reeling from the news when Fugaku left, leaving him alone with Minato. The man was watching him with kind gentle eyes, eyes that could see straight into the guilt weighing down on Shisui's shoulders.

"It should have been me."

"We don't know that, Shisui, we don't know what Danzo is planning. If he only needed your eyes there would have been no need to attack anyone else, after all, your usefulness to him lies within the unique power of your dojutsu."

Shisui's hand rose to his beaked porcelain mask, his fingers hovered above the eye slits. "The person who wrote the note, they knew its name."

"It is likely that whoever it is might be from your clan, yes," Minato confirmed, he didn't seem surprised that Shisui knew the contents of the note.

"Then why didn't they help them?" he asked, confused and hurt. "If they can help why don't they step forward?"

Minato shook his head regretfully. "We don't know. Maybe we will never know."

* * *

For all the years that Shisui had been a shinobi, he had never seen a gathering quite like the one that took place later that day at the Naka Shrine. It seemed like all of the Uchiha had gathered inside the main hall of the shrine, though, a closer inspection found most of the younger children missing.

Shisui sat at the back with Itachi at his side. Sasuke, who looked about ready to fall asleep, leaned against his older brother. Fugaku didn't keep them for long and nothing he said was anything Shisui didn't already know. The news of their dead clansmen brought a palpable rush of anger from everyone present and it only worsened when Fugaku warned them that the culprit was still on the loose, whoever that was. The fact that it must have been another member of the village did nothing to calm the clan.

The next few days were going to be hellish for everyone. Worse than an angry Uchiha was a paranoid one.

Meeting completed, people began to exit the shrine, the anger and suspicion in their voice didn't bode well for future interactions with the rest of the village. He cast an especially wary glance to the shinobi that bore the police's insignia, as they were the ones with the most interaction with outside people.

He saw his mother for the first time in months. She looked thinner than he remembered, her skin stretched tight over high cheekbones and a sharp jaw. She was fading, slowly but surely ever since his father's death. It was like her will to live had disappeared with him and now all she had to wait for was a quiet death. They had never been close, their bond never as strong as it should but it still pained him to see her like this. That she refused to let him help her only made the pain worse. Maybe some people were just not meant to remain apart. He tried to convince himself that that was the case and not that his mother didn't love him enough to live for him.

As soon as he had that thought, his eyes sought someone else in the crowd. He found her between her two brothers, the younger one that Shisui had already met and one closer to Shisui's own age and by the star on his arm a member of the police. The more he stared at her face the more it looked wrong to him. Not her face, per se, but her expression. Anger, indignation, disgust, fear, frustration. He could identify each and every one of those expressions amongst his clan but her face was as smooth as the surface of a lake.

Both brothers rose and offered her their hands which she took, easily accepting their help. Shisui thought she would walk out of the shrine without feeling the weight of his gaze on her, something he had noticed she was quite adept at doing, and but almost like a magnet, her eyes were pulled in his direction.

It was all it took. The calm lake that was her expression rippled with emotion, he couldn't see them on her face, however, her eyes were stormy with raw pain and remorse.

Their wet inky depths as she walked past him would remain in his memory and he would remember this very moment every time he saw them in the years to come. For each moment marked a decision and a consequence.


	9. Chapter 9

**Note:**

 **I'm sorry, I know it's been a long time since I updated but I had a bit of writer's block along the way and I suddenly got a lot busier in rl than I expected DX Hopefully the next chapter won't take as long!**

* * *

For all that Fugaku's speech at the meeting had been short and to the point, the events that followed were anything but.

The Uchiha clan had never been known for their wonderful hospitality and after that day, whatever hospitality they still held, soon vanished.

The clan went from making outsiders sign their name into their logs if they wanted to enter the compound to thoroughly searching every ninja that didn't belong to the clan. Poison users and specialists were prohibited from entering the premises altogether. Shisui couldn't remember ever having felt this kind of tension from his clan before, not even during the war.

Over the course of the next two weeks, he wondered many times if this wasn't exactly the enemy's plan: to force the Uchiha into their corner, to bring their hostile and suspicious nature to the surface for everyone to see. Because, much to Shisui's horror, it was working, they were efficiently alienating every other clan with their open hostility and soon there would be no one to put up with their behaviour. It was only a matter of time before the Hokage was brought into the matter, or a fight broke out. He desperately hoped for the first.

Another consequence (or was it a blessing?) of the meeting was that his own engagement had been put on hold for the time being. He still had his list and his files but whenever he spoke to Fugaku the matter was simply pushed aside in favour of more important ones. If it was up to Itachi, he would have been married within the month because the younger boy knew that weddings were good for morale but Fugaku didn't have quite the same touch for politics as his son.

In the end, Shisui didn't have much of a reason to seek out Seiko. He still saw her at times, Konoha was small and the compound even more so. Whenever he did see her, she always had a thoughtful frown on her face, so deep in her own thoughts that many times her unfocused eyes moved past him without even seeing him. Or at least that's what he took from her lack of reaction. She looked… weighted down, for a lack of a better expression, like the weight of the world rested upon her very shoulders and it showed in the droop of her shoulders, in the circles under her eyes, he was almost sure that she had lost weight, too, her clothes hung looser than they had.

Without a reason, he was hesitant to seek her out. They weren't friends, in fact, he had no idea what they were, where they stood but that didn't stop the pang of guilt he felt deep in his chest whenever he saw her.

The night patrol had found another body a few days after the first two, a boy of 14, his eyes mercilessly plucked out. He had been easy prey, just a tired little chunin returning home from a late mission. Despite the Hokage's words, Shisui took each death personally. Any day now, he was expecting a fourth body to show up and it was making him restless. Now more than ever, he wished that he could be out in the field, at least when he was in the middle of a mission he rarely had time for thoughts that were unrelated to said mission.

A loud voice he had reluctantly become familiar with since his time guarding the Hokage pulled him from his depressing thoughts. Itachi had been very very generous when he had described Uzumaki Naruto as boisterous, as Shisui had suspected.

He couldn't see the kid yet, but he sure could hear him loud and clear which meant that he was inside the building somewhere and moving closer. Really it had only been through sheer dumb luck that he managed to miss the kid the first few days working as the Hokage's guard because once he saw him it was like he couldn't stop seeing him everywhere, or hearing him. Mostly hearing him.

He wasn't surprised to see Seiko trailing after the wildly gesturing blond, because somehow this woman seemed to know just about everyone in the village, a feat considering the fact that most outsiders didn't bother stepping into the compound and the ones inside didn't need to step out if they didn't want to. Still, there was a smile on her lips as she nodded along with what Naruto was saying, it was the first smile he had seen from her in the last two weeks.

The Hokage's secretary took one long look at Naruto and promptly walked out of the room towards the break room. Smart woman, that one. Not much work ever got done when Naruto was around so might as well grab some lunch. He wished he could do the same.

"I promise I'll practice, nee-chan," Naruto was saying to Seiko as they walked within hearing distance. He had a pout on his face and if the kid wasn't so headache-inducing, Shisui would have found it cute.

Unlike Sasuke and Itachi (though the latter had lost the habit some years ago) who puffed their cheeks when they pouted, Naruto stuck out his bottom lip. Seiko's stern façade crumbled under the expression, giving way too amused weariness.

"No, you won't," she sighed under her breath as Naruto stormed into his father's office without a second glance to the Anbu stationed outside. With no further distractions in the room, Seiko's dark eyes fixed on him, pinning him under her scrutinous stare.

"Long time no see," she half-heartedly teased, her lips did a valiant effort at a weak smile before returning to a frown.

Shisui nodded once in acknowledge. He wanted to ask her how she had been doing but he could feel the other Anbu's eyes burning a hole through the side of his porcelain mask.

"Do you like ramen?"

Any other time, he might have noticed the mischievous glint in her eyes, but his empty stomach was by far stronger than his brain.

And that is how he ended up half an hour later, walking side by side with her towards Ichiraku's, the Hokage's son skipping in front of them, yelling praise to the ramen god.

"Does he come with an off button?" Shisui discreetly asked Seiko.

"He does, it's called sleep mode," she joked back.

He could tell that she had relaxed significantly since they left the Hokage tower, there was even the smallest curve of a smile on her lips now. The reason why eluded him.

Naruto reached Ichiraku's before they did, cheerfully greeting the man behind the counter.

"Something tells me this isn't his first time here," Shisui deadpanned as Naruto gave the man a mile long list of all the types of ramen he wanted without having to look at the menu. No one but him was surprised, in fact, there was a familiarity around the three of them, Seiko, Naruto and the man, Teuchi, that told him that this was a regular thing for them. Shisui took the seat on the other side of Seiko, leaving the woman as a shield between him and Naruto.

"The usual, Uchiha-san?" Teuchi asked Seiko.

"Please, Teuchi-san, extra gyoza today."

Shisui chose a bowl of miso and soon both his and Naruto's first bowls were placed in front of them.

"Itadakimasu!"

By the time Shisui had snapped his chopsticks apart, Naruto was already halfway done with his own bowl, slurping happily. Seiko took one look at Shisui's stunned expression and turned away, her shoulders shaking with laughter.

"You haven't seen anything yet," she told him, digging into her own bowl of ramen that was piled high with gyoza. "Do you want one?" she asked after catching him eyeing her bowl, offering him one of the tasty looking dumplings with her own chopsticks.

It was at times like these. When her boldness and her small casual gestures and her thick strange accent all mixed together that he noticed how mystifying this woman really was. Perhaps the real reason why he continued to let his gaze linger had very little to do with her pretty face and sweet disposition and more to do with what she let slip at times when she was relaxed and her guard was practically non-existent. He carefully wrapped his fingers around her curved hand, keeping it steady as he took the dumpling from her chopsticks with his lips.

Her reaction, as expected, was underwhelming. Any other girl he knew would never have proposed such a thing to anyone they weren't very comfortable or intimate with and even then, there would have been a slight embarrassment in their gesture. Seiko smiled but there was no blush on her cheeks and she didn't avert her eyes from his. In the end, it was Shisui who looked away from the intense stare, his cheeks warm.

What a strange woman.

Shisui cleared his throat and released her cool hand. "So, how do you know Naruto?"

"He is my student at the Academy."

"The Academy? But I thought you weren't a kunoichi."

"I don't need to be one to teach kids how to read and write," she replied, "clan kids don't need it as much, there's normally someone in charge of teaching them within their clan, like how we had Kaede-san, remember her?" she paused to take a bite of her food. "I still try to teach them some composition but they aren't at the same level as kids from civilians families and orphans."

The muscles around her mouth tightened.

"Minato-sama is too busy to teach Naruto personally and it's not like he has his mother or a clan to fill that role."

There was something there, Shisui realised, some sort of feeling that Seiko was carefully keeping to herself. Did she disapprove of how little time the Hokage had to spend with his son? No, that couldn't be it, otherwise, she wouldn't speak of the man with admiration.

"When the last teacher retired, I applied for the position. I was 17," she turned her head to smile at Naruto's impersonation of a happy fox, his eyes closed as he blissfully inhaled the noodles. "Naruto and Sasuke were in my first class," she grimaced, "along with basically every clan heir in the village. No pressure or anything."

He didn't know that. Why hadn't Itachi ever mentioned that?

"Shisui?"

"Hm?" He acknowledged her the best he could with his full mouth.

"How have you been holding up?" she asked quietly, probably so as to not attract Naruto's attention. "We haven't had a chance to talk since… since the hanami, I guess," her eyes lowered to her bowl. "I know you have your own circumstances, but you don't have to avoid me or the store if you didn't enjoy yourself, you and Itachi will always be my favourite customers no matter what happens."

He could see how it might look like that to her. Itachi visited her store often and normally Shisui would be right there with him but their schedules had been so hectic the last couple of weeks that they hadn't found the time to just hang out and relax. It also made him feel a little bad because a month ago he wouldn't have been able to call her anything but dango lady and from the way she talked it sounded like she thought of him as highly as she did Itachi.

"I enjoyed myself," he firmly corrected her, turning in his seat to face Seiko. "Please don't think that I didn't."

"Oh."

"I'm not avoiding you," he added, leaning forward, holding her gaze earnestly. "I couldn't even if I wanted, Itachi would disown me."

Her lips twitched into a shy smile, which he returned.

"I knew it, I've been going about this all wrong," she mused, a glint of mirth in her onyx eyes. "It's Itachi I should be trying to win over if I want a chance with you."

"Rookie's mistake," Shisui mock-agreed, "but in your defence, I don't think you could make him like you any more than he already does."

"Guess that means I'll have to win you over then."

"Guess so. I'm partial to good company and those nikuman you made."

"You mean the ones you took in my basket, the same basket you haven't returned yet," she crossed her arms over her chest and god help him but he couldn't help the quick glance over he gave her chest as it was pushed up by her forearms.

"Y-yes?" Shisui stuttered, holding his hands up defensively. "I've been busy, I swear." He hoped his face wasn't as red as it felt.

"Joking aside, how are you really?" she asked, dropping the angry façade. Her arms dropped from their crossed position (much to his disappointment) only to rest on the counter near his, a moment later a feather-like sensation brushed the back of his fingers, sending shivers of delight down his spine. Their eyes never strayed from each other but on the counter his hand turned, acknowledging her touch and responding in kind, his calloused fingertips caressing her smooth ones.

"I don't know," he confessed, some days were worse than others, days when the guilt ate at his core, stealing his sleep and his appetite, "I hate how things are in the clan if we don't do something the bodies will continue to pile. The extra patrol isn't working and Fugaku can't expect us to just take this sitting down."

"It sounds like you're planning on doing something yourself," she noted, her voice quiet with caution.

"It's not really a plan but… I think we would have more luck if we baited this person. They're not stupid, we'd have them by now if that was the case. They're not going to attack with the patrol around, not unless the thing they want is out there, too."

"I thought they were already getting what they wanted, our sharingan. Isn't that why they have found the bodies without their eyes?"

The Hokage had told him as much but Shisui couldn't get the thought out of his mind that this was only happening because Danzo no longer had access to Shisui's eyes.

"Maybe you're right."

He hated lying but the last thing he wanted was for her to worry about him and his situation.

Her fingers tightened around his.

"Everything will be alright."

She spoke with such conviction that Shisui wanted to bask in her strong believe until it drowned his own doubts.

"How can you be so sure?"

"I trust Minato-sama, and more importantly I trust our clan to always be spiteful enough to persevere," they shared a smirk, both very much aware of the Uchiha's single-minded power of spite, "everything will work out in the end."

They returned to their meal after that, quickly finishing before the broth could turn cold and their noodles soggy. Naruto had an impressive pile of bowls in front of him but Seiko didn't even bat an eye, which only reinforced the image in Shisui's mind that the woman was used to treating Naruto. He would have to ask her about that another day.

"I'll take my usual to go as well, Teuchi-san," she told the man behind the counter.

"Already taken care of, Uchiha-san."

A large wooden delivery box was placed on the counter. "One large miso bowl as requested, would you like me to call Ayame to deliver it for you?"

"Naruto will take it, thank you," she took the wooden box by the handle and passed it over to the blond. "No detours this time, Naru-chan, no one likes soggy noodles."

"Don't call me that, nee-chan," the boy complained with a pout. "Besides, tou-chan doesn't mind."

The tab that was handed to Seiko once the blond ran off was high enough to make Shisui wince.

"Is this your thing?" he asked Seiko when they were on their way back to the Hokage's office. "Feeding people, I mean. You fed me, Itachi, the Hokage's kid and now you're sending the man lunch."

"You forgot Kakashi's dogs."

Shisui stopped on his tracks to stare at Seiko incredulously. "Really?"

"Yes, I feed them when he's out of the village or when they need a break from his sulking, but don't tell him I said that."

"Why Kakashi's dogs?"

"Why not? I like dogs and Kakashi is my friend. Who else is he going to ask to feed them, Guy?"

At least that explained why she had stopped by the Hokage's office with one of Kakashi's dogs that time just after he had the engagement bomb dropped on him.

"They let me pet them all I want in return," she looked ridiculously giddy when she told him that.

'That's adorable,' he thought to himself with a smile as the woman went on telling him funny stories that had happened over the years she had known Kakashi and his huge pack. It was the most animated he had ever seen her.

And then, all of a sudden, things went sour, as they often seem to do in his life.

He heard it before he saw it, the sound of something large travelling through the air in their direction. Shisui didn't need to think twice, one moment he was completely relaxed listening to Seiko ramble on about Kakashi's dogs and the other his arms were around her waist and they were up on the roof of the closest building.

A fight had broken out between two men in full ninja uniform, one of them had the Police Force's symbol on the sleeves. Apparently what Shisui had heard was the result of a kick that had sent one of the man flying. He crashed into a wooden fence, breaking it on impact.

"You Uchiha bastard," the man on the floor growled as he pushed broken planks off of him.

"If you say another word about my clan, I will kill you," the Uchiha threatened. The civilians on the street who had stopped to observe the commotion flinched from the man's killing intent.

"Ah! Do it, you piece of shit, show everyone why the precious Uchiha are being put down like dogs!"

Only the best ever made it into the Police Force and it showed, if Shisui hadn't been as fast as he was he would never have been able to tackle his clansman before he reached the other ninja.

"That's enough out of you," Shisui scolded the man under him before glaring up at the chunin still sitting by the wrecked fence, his sharingan spinning lazily.

It showed how the standing of the clan had fallen that all the older man did was lean back and smile meanly.

"What's going on here?"

Fukagu.

He must have been attracted by the commotion. Shisui quickly stood and helped the other Uchiha up with a quiet apology. Once the man calmed down he would understand why Shisui reacted the way he did but for now, all he got was a rough shove as the man pushed past him on his way to Fugaku.

"This doesn't look good for us," Seiko commented from behind him, startling Shisui. First her brother and now her, he was beginning to think her family had some natural chakra concealing skills because he was sure he should have felt her coming up to him. "Oh, sorry. I have a class in ten minutes so I'll go on ahead."

"Thank you for treating me," Shisui said, offering the older woman a bow, "next time I will return the courtesy."

"I will be waiting. Don't take too long."

Their eyes locked, Seiko's were crinkled from her smile, Shisui found himself returning it with an embarrassed smile of his own. "I won't," he promised, hoping the heat he felt travelling up his neck didn't show on his face.

Seiko turned to walk away. "I know the next coming days are going to be tough, you can come by the store whenever you want. I will listen if you want to vent," she whispered.

He couldn't see her expression anymore but her shoulders were tense as she hurried away. Something in his chest clenched uncomfortably. Why did it feel like she was running away?


	10. Chapter 10

When Itachi asked him to meet up for an afternoon snack at the dango store, Shisui didn't think much of it. Itachi loved dango and Shisui loved to spend time with him, it was perfect. With some luck he could ask the younger boy to train with him, all those shifts guarding the Hokage were making him restless, he felt like he had too much chakra bubbling under his skin. It was ridiculous of course, chakra didn't work like, but Shisui had never been good at staying still and the lack of constant missions and training were finally getting to him.

He found Itachi waiting for him outside the store, his arms crossed over his chest, looking deep in thought. Well, either that or he somehow disapproved of the fence he was intently staring at.

"Did the fence trip you or something?" Shisui asked quietly, dropping down next to Itachi from the edge of the building, intent on at least giving the boy a mild startle.

Itachi, being the brat that he was, blinked up at Shisui, unfazed. "You're late."

"By two whole minutes!" Shisui shot back, sounding proud of himself. "Hey, wait for me!" He stumbled inside after Itachi before he remembered whose store this was. His dark eyes did a quick sweep of the store but she didn't seem to be around to notice his clumsiness, much to his relief.

"She's not here."

"How do y- I mean, who isn't here?"

"..."

"Stop looking at me like that," the older boy mumbled, dropping on the seat across from Itachi. He wasn't searching for her, really he wasn't. And it's not like he was disappointed that she wasn't around, not at all. "Anyway, you said you wanted to talk."

"Let's order first."

When their usual order was sitting in front of them, Itachi finally brought up the reason why he had asked Shisui to meet him.

"I want to confront the killer."

Shisui struggled not to choke on his tea at Itachi's nonchalant answer. "What?!" he leaned forward on the table to stare Itachi down. "Are you crazy? You could end up dead."

"I want you to help me."

The boys stared at each other, measuring each other's resolve and intent. In the end, Shisui looked down with a frown and an unhappy curl on his lips. "Why now?"

"There's been an increase in the fights breaking out between our clan and the rest of the village," Itachi explained, more than ready to reel Shisui into his plan. "There's also something that I've noticed. The people who instigate the fights, I've never seen them around the village before."

"You think they are purposely alienating our clan by picking fights."

"The timing is too convenient," Itachi agreed, "and even if it's not on purpose, it's not helping. This situation is escalating quickly, we must stop the murderer before it's too late to salvage our place within the village."

The younger boy took a bite of his dango, allowing some time for Shisui to think over his words. It's not that he hadn't noticed what Itachi had noticed, ever since the first fight broke out, they began to occur almost daily and not once had Shisui recognised the person involved.

No one, especially not Shisui, could deny that the Uchiha were a breed of hot-headed ninjas, save for a few exceptions, and they were prideful. But even they did not start fights unless some very harsh words were exchanged. Maybe the situation had lowered their tolerance a little but he would like to think that his clan was a little more controlled than to just start a fight because someone looked at them wrong.

"What is your plan?"

"I want to use your idea."

"My idea?" Shisui echoed, confused before a sudden realisation hit him. "You want to use me as bait." He had discussed this with Itachi before. The autopsy results on the bodies had been clean, too clean, and since there were no marks on the bodies they had moved on to poison, the conclusion Fugaku had also come to when he handed the bodies over to the Hokage. Specialist after specialist, no one could find any trace of the poison in the ninjas' body, but they were quick to point out that some poisons did break down after death. An antidote was impossible to create without the original poison.

"Yes. We will try to draw them out and capture them."

Shisui's hands tightened on his cup of tea, ignoring its scalding heat. If the plan somehow went wrong and the culprit managed to somehow steal his eyes, it would make the deaths of his clansmen be for nothing. He couldn't afford that but he knew Itachi was right, the situation couldn't continue as it was.

"I'm in."

* * *

"Do I have a death wish, why yes I do, thank you for asking," Shisui muttered under his breath as he casually strolled through the deserted Uchiha compound at the pleasant hour of two in the morning. At least the whole compound was illuminated, he was counting on that and his mediocre sensor skills to see or sense any incoming attack. He could feel Itachi's chakra a little behind his location and it stealthily crept closer every few seconds, keeping Shisui within watching distance.

Shisui was by no means weak or cowardly and the fact that he knew an attack might be coming at any moment gave him a slight edge, but a fight was a fight and Shisui really hated poison users.

This was also the fourth night they had tried this approach and to no avail, no one had attacked him as he made his way from outside the compound and into his home. They were counting on the temptation being stronger than the person's caution and to tip the scales into their favour Shisui made sure to seek less illuminated streets or those outside of the patrol's routes. So far he had come across three stray cats and not much else. Unless they had some killers cats with a taste for eyes in the compound he would declare this one as yet another wasted night.

Fugaku hadn't brought up their actions, but Shisui didn't fool himself into thinking he didn't know what the two boys were up to, nothing went on in the compound without the head of the clan's knowledge. As much as Shisui would love to be able to comply with the man's wishes to keep himself safe, that wasn't how Shisui was. From the beginning, he had made it clear that he wasn't happy with the decision but he went along with it because he knew the power of his kotoamatsukami, it wasn't something he wanted to hand over to the wrong person.

As his building came closer, Shisui slowed his pace until he finally stopped at the entrance. Itachi dropped next to him, looking more alert than a boy of his age should at this time of the night.

"Nothing?" Shisui asked him, reaching up to wave off a mosquito that was buzzing near his ear. With the weather heating up and his building being in the part of the compound closest to the river, he was used to them and their bites.

Itachi shook his head, his face expressionless but Shisui could tell by the way his brows were just the tiniest bit lowered that even the ever-patient Itachi was beginning to grow frustrated with their lack of results. "Are we wasting our time?" he voiced the question they were both thinking.

"Even if all we do is keep their attention on us then everyone else will be safe," Shisui whispered, reaching out to squeeze Itachi's shoulder.

The younger boy looked up with such an uncertain look in his eyes that Shisui couldn't help but pull him close to his side, his arm around Itachi's shoulders, playfully tugging him towards his house. "Don't look so down, you can stay here tonight."

"My house is five minutes away," Itachi pointed out but there was no resistance in his body as Shisui led him.

"And mine is right here! C'mon, when was the last time you stayed over?"

Shisui knew exactly when that had been; before the killings started. He missed his old routine, as overworked as it was, at least he had been free to do as he pleased when he pleased. Now he couldn't even stay out past dark for fear of being attacked in some dark alley.

Itachi must have been remembering the same thing because he froze next to Shisui. The older Uchiha looked down just in time to see whatever colour remained on Itachi's face drain.

"Itachi?"

"Shi-" he stumbled forward, clutching at Shisui, eyes wide, his other hand fisted his shirt at the neck area.

"Itachi?!" Shisui helped him sit, pulling the boy's hand away so he could see what the problem was. There was no mark on Itachi's neck but his jugular vein was engorged, pulsing with the boy's quickening pulse. "What are you feeling, does it hurt?"

"Poi-" Itachi rasped.

Shisui leaned closer, his own pulse quickening with panic. No, it couldn't be. "Ho-hold on, I'll get you to the hospital," he was panicking and he knew it. His hands shook and sweat broke across his brow as he pulled Itachi up from the ground.

"Look out!" Itachi called out breathlessly, pushing Shisui away from him just in time for a projectile to fly past where Shisui's head had been. A senbon. The part that had not been buried on his door gleamed wetly.

Without someone to hold him, Itachi dropped to the ground, still clutching his bare neck but the fighter in him searched the premises for their enemy, his black eyes now a dangerous red.

"Can you stand?" Shisui asked him, helping Itachi up again, his own eyes red but with the full force of his mangekyou sharingan. "What happened, did something hit you?"

Itachi shook his head, Shisui noticed how his hand tightened on the spot on his neck as if it pained him. "Poison," he rasped, slightly out of breath. "Strong. Ca-can't breath."

The boy's weight fell heavily on Shisui, his body growing weaker by the second. They had messed up. Somehow, they had fallen into the enemy's trap without noticing.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes:** Sooo, I've realised I'm so not made for fighting scenes xD you can blame my delay on updates on that. The struggle was real. But! It's out and the next chapter is going to be so much easier to write. Prepare for the fluff, people. Anyway, I'd like to thank everyone who has read this so far and a very special thanks to all the review you've left so far. I swear they make my day. Thank you so much, everyone.

* * *

A figure dropped from one of the nearby trees, landing no more than ten meters in front of where Shisui was crouched protectively in front of Itachi. "Figure" seemed to fit his mental description of the individual in front of him for the long black cloak gave Shisui no clue as to the gender of the attacker and the anbu porcelain mask was firmly in place, effectively hiding the person's face.

The markings on the mask were some he had never come across before but he felt Itachi tense behind him, his small hand reaching out for Shisui's shirt like a frightened child seeking comfort.

For a moment neither of them moved, waiting for the other to make the first move, but with each minute that passed Itachi's body seemed to grow more rigid against Shisui's back. He had waited long enough.

"Climb on my back," he whispered to Itachi, never taking his eyes of the person in front of them. He felt the boy's rigid limbs struggle to comply until his weight settled heavily on Shisui's back. Itachi's safety had priority over staying and fighting but he knew it wouldn't be easy.

A wave of dizziness washed over his body.

"N-no," he bit out, pushing past the sensation to rise to his feet. So that's what the killer was waiting for, they already knew that the both of the boys had been caught in whatever form of poison was used, there would be no need to fight when all they had to do was wait it out.

Like Shisui would ever give them that satisfaction.

In the blink of an eye, he was upon the person, his tantō gleamed briefly under the street's lamplight before he plunged it deep in his adversary's chest. He noted for the first time that this person was either a woman and therefore short in stature or a young man, they were evenly matched in height and this was coming from Shisui who had yet to reach past the height he had had since he was 15. His tantō slackened in his grip as the body in front of them dissolved in thousands of buzzing bugs.

Shisui jumped back, startled, but it was already too late, the bugs were in pursuit.

"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!"

A weak stream of flames flew out of Itachi's mouth over Shisui's shoulder, but it was weak compared to the boy's usual giant fireball, no more than enough to kill the initial wave of bugs.

"Suga-" Itachi began but a cough stopped him, his breath sounded laboured and the stiffness on his limbs had spread further. He didn't know what kind of poison it was but he could recognise the paralysing effect well enough.

"The anbu will have noticed the light, they'll cover us," Shisui reassured him but inside he was kicking himself for not having thought about it before. He had been expecting some sort of gas trap or maybe even senbon coated with poison but never in his life had he expected a bug bite to be the cause of all the troubles that were happening in his clan. Was it one of the killer's bugs he had smacked earlier as it buzzed near his ear, unknowingly thinking it to be just an annoying mosquito?

They needed out, now.

The killer, almost as if sensing Shisui's thoughts, sent another wave of bugs forward, hoping to swarm his weak, poisoned prey, but Shisui dropped one of the few smoke bombs he carried and used the confusion to shushin away. The sound of a cloak flapping a few meters behind him told him the enemy was in pursuit. Even with Itachi's added weight, Shisui was faster than most shinobi, he used his speed to his advantage, putting as much distance between them and their pursuer before he fully lost control of his limbs.

The pain Itachi had felt before, he could feel it now spreading through his body. It had started at the back of his neck, probably where the bug had bitten him, but it was quickly flowing down to his upper limbs. Thanks to his speed, Shisui rarely relied on seals to attack, preferring to subdue his targets with a well-placed blade, he was thankful for that now as his fingers grew stiff, soon the ability to perform seals would be beyond his reach.

Still, there was no patrol in sight, even as Shisui ran closer to the middle of the compound. "Where's everyone?" he mused out loud, a trickle of worry starting somewhere deep inside his chest. Three senbon flew past his head, smacked into the wall in front of him before falling to the ground harmlessly.

Shisui cursed. In a fluid motion, he twisted his body, easily deflecting the next three senbon with his tantō but Itachi wasn't as lucky, the sudden movement jolted the boy from his back. He slipped to the floor with a pained groan and didn't move again.

"Itachi!"

There was no answer, the boy had fallen unconscious.

Shisui wanted to grab him and continue but the killer was upon him, a cloud of the tiny bugs slipping out of the sleeve of the arm he had stretched past the protective cover of his cloak, like some ridiculous villain in one of Shisui's mangas. Shisui locked his jaw, running was no longer an option.

His body relaxed as he straightened, with his other option out of the way, there was only one thing that he could do.

"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu."

The giant fireball rushed towards the enemy, taking the bugs in its path like they were nothing more than dust particles. Shisui took cover behind the brilliance of the fire jutsu, and as expected, when the killer jumped up to avoid the fireball Shisui was already there, waiting. His tantō connected with the person's shoulder, cutting fabric and skin like butter in a long horizontal line from shoulder to hip. It wasn't a deep cut, certainly not enough to be life-threatening but it was something. Giving the person no time to regroup, Shisui shunshined directly behind him, a powerful kick dropping them to the ground.

Shisui landed not far from the fallen body. Now he was sure that there was no patrol coming, the light of his jutsu had been like a flash in the otherwise moonless night, yet he heard no footsteps hurrying in his direction.

The body in front of him dissolved into another swarm of bugs, which Shisui was quick to burn away with another well-placed fire jutsu. He should have known it wouldn't be that easy.

It was a waiting game, the enemy had enough bugs to burn through while they waited for Shisui to succumb to the poison. There was no other reason for this cloak and dagger style. Shisui scanned his surroundings with a critical eye. His sharingan could detect no flicker of movement in the chakra signatures closest to him. It would be a perfect chance to flee, to leave the killer behind, but that would solve nothing. Who knows how long it'd take for another opportunity like this to present itself. How many more would die if he retreated now?

"I'm sorry, Itachi," he whispered, his head bowed, "I have to do this."

A sudden flicker in the distance, just barely within the range of his sharingan, caught his attention. It felt different from what he recognised as someone moulding their chakra for an attack. The chakra was… expanding. Like a cloud, it smothered the original signature. And yet, Shisui knew exactly what it was. Another swarm being released from the Aburame's body to buy more time for the poison.

"I got you now, you one-trick pony," Shisui growled under his breath. With a quick succession of the body flicker jutsu, he had put himself directly above the balcony the Aburame was using as a perch. The white porcelain mask turned up but Shisui was already diving toward's the ninja, his tantō connected with the person's shoulder and this time there were no bugs only a thin splatter of blood as he pulled his blade out of the person's shoulder to swing it at his enemy's throat.

The Aburame dodged just in time for the tip of his blade to avoid his neck so it connected with his white mask instead. The porcelain shattered with the impact and the boy behind it flinched as the shards dug cuts into his skin.

"What are you going to do without your bugs?" Shisui asked, as the boy as he put some distance between them. Now that he could see his face, he didn't look much older than Itachi, maybe one or two years, still younger than Shisui. His eyes were hidden from view, a common Aburame trait.

Shisui could feel the cloud of bugs drawing closer at his back, no longer distracted by his sudden change of position. He had a minute at best before they were upon him. His grip on his tantō tightened.

Ring after ring of metal against metal, one attack one block. Shisui couldn't get the upper hand, not with the way his body was slowly shutting down with the heavy poison running through his veins. But he persevered, using every trick he knew to make up for the decrease in speed, it finally came to a head when the weak genjutsu he was trying to catch the boy in clicked into place. It wasn't a full-scale elaborate illusion like the ones he was known to use, instead, it had a very specific purpose. The moment his adversary moved to block Shisui's strike the genjutsu activated, the illusion made the Aburame misjudge the timing of the strike, it was only for a fraction of a second but it was enough to make the boy miss the block and for the tip of Shisui's tantō to slice through the skin of his neck.

Shisui felt the spurt of blood hit his face and he knew that he had cut the boy's jugular. Nothing short of a miracle could save him now, he would bleed out in a matter of minutes.

All strength left him the next moment, causing his knees to buckle under him. The last fumes of adrenaline were burning out before the presence of the poison. Shisui caught himself on his elbows, the sweat dripping from his forehead leaving dark circles on the ground, it was all he could focus on to try to stave off the need to pass out.

He had done it and now he was so very tired...

Surely no one would care if he rested his eyes for just a moment, right?

A heavy sigh left his parched lips.

He could have sworn that right before his eyes closed there were a pair of red glowing eyes staring at him from the darkness of an alley in the distance.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes:** OMG IT'S BEEN SO LONG. I'm so sorry you guys, real life took over for a while and to be honest I'm still pretty busy but I find some time here and there do write a little bit each time.

To the person who left me a review yesterday, I think (after all this time without updates), thank you, you jump started my brain into writing the last part of the chapter and finally posting it. I hope you can find this again and keep following because I plan on keeping updating xD

* * *

Shisui had never been a heavy sleeper. Even before starting his training in the academy the slightest noise could startle him awake. As a result, he rarely remembered his dreams, he knew that he had them, everyone did, but other than frantic stress-induced dreams he had before big occasions or the nightmares borne from his career choice he rarely remembered anything.

And yet, under the effect of the poison, he dreamt what must have been his whole life. A life of peace where children didn't have to die in foreign soil for a war that they couldn't fully comprehend.

A life where he was surrounded by people who loved him for who he was and not for the power he had, the sound of a feminine voice in his ear, soft hands on the flushed skin of his cheeks, the laughter of children in the morning instead of the constant silence of his life, a kiss on his lips and a gentle 'welcome home' murmured tenderly.

One year he had lived alone and he couldn't get used to the silence. He missed coming home to warmth and life.

At times the dream was frailer, like an half-painted picture that remained dark at his peripheral vision instead of filling up around him. It was at those times that he heard the voices around him grow dim and the scents grow faint. The line between the waking world and the dreaming one no more than a translucent membrane.

On one such time, he heard a disembodied voice murmur his name, a whisper in the distance like a ghost calling him from the grave, except that it felt more real than all the other ghosts he had dreamt of. The voice was so familiar too, he had the name of the person on the tip of his tongue but whenever he tried to say it, it slipped only to become lost in the darkness that surrounded him.

Only that it was no longer just darkness. In front of him, a dim fire had gathered, like cast-off light from hot embers. The edges were the consistency of crimson coloured smoke, they slipped between his fingers harmlessly when he tried to feel if they were as warm as they appeared.

"Perhaps this is my curse," the voice rang out again, clearer this time, closer but no less heavy with resignation. "To have everything that I touch turn to ash."

He could have sworn it was coming from within the mist. He felt something cold brush a phantom touch across his brow.

"I'm glad that at least you I didn't fail, not completely."

The touch disappeared.

He tried to call out, to ask the presence at his side to return but darkness pulled him under again.

Later, they would tell him that he had brief moments where he would react to outside stimuli when his eyes would open and he would babble under the effect of the poison on his blood before a medical-nin could lower his fever allowing him to drift back into an undisturbed sleep.

He didn't remember any of it.

* * *

The first time he awoke and was fully aware of it, was to the delicious scent of ripe berries and flowers.

It was the scent of Seiko's perfume, she was the only person he knew who smelled like the sweetest berries, which meant that the bouquet of fresh pansies sitting in a glass vase at his bedside table was quite possibly from her too. She couldn't have left long ago if the scent was still strong enough for Shisui's untrained nose to detect.

How long had he been asleep? His mouth felt as dry as a desert and his limbs trembled when he painstakingly made his way into a sitting position.

He was in a tiny hospital room, two beds crammed parallel to each other with a bedside table in between. Itachi was asleep on the other one, his face terribly pale but at least he was breathing and there were no machines connected to his body.

Shisui was no stranger to Konoha's hospital and their staff, he knew that the first thing he should do after waking up from an extended unconscious state was press the button to call a nurse, they had to make sure he was fine. He didn't feel fine, in fact, he felt like crap, nothing new from a person of his profession.

However, the moment he pressed that button, he could say goodbye to his peace and quiet. Was a glass of water really worth getting his headache aggravated?

As much as he would like to debate the pros and cons of such an action, the choice was made for him not a moment later when the door to their room quietly opened and a tired-looking Namikaze Minato walked through. There was a moment of silence as he took in Shisui's sitting position, his eyes just the tiniest bit wide and the beginning of a pleased smile on his lips.

"You're awake," he stated unnecessarily, "this is new, how do you feel?"

"Thirsty," he croaked, the shinobi part of his brain was left wondering why the Hokage had just entered his room but the other one was glad that the person who had stumbled upon him was this soft-spoken, gentle person, "how long have we been asleep?"

Minato made a thoughtful noise and moved to peek into the pitcher on his bedside table. He used it to pour water into one of the glasses before handing it to Shisui who proceeded to drink it in desperate gulps.

"It has been three days since they brought you and Itachi to the hospital."

No wonder he felt like crap. Anything strong enough to keep him under for three days had to have done considerable damage.

"What happened?" he asked the Hokage.

"Why don't you start with your part of the story and I will help you fill in the blanks," Minato proposed, taking the chair nearest to Shisui's bed.

Shisui hesitated for only a moment before he began talking. The back of his neck felt warm with humiliation when he talked about how easily they had fallen for the enemy's trap, how he had felt when the poison had spread through Itachi and then through his own veins, the resignation when he realised no help was coming for them.

It was at this point that Minato stopped him. "I might be able to clear that up," he said, "The anbu patrol was attacked that night near the Naka Shrine by a masked individual."

"Someone with an anbu mask?"

"No, though I have no doubt that both events were somehow related, from what the anbu reported this individual had a different mask, they said it resembled a spiral."

"What happened to this person?"

"It would seem that as soon as the noise from your battle could no longer be heard, he vanished. Maybe he expected a different outcome."

An heavy silence fell between them. That different outcome had almost become a reality for him and Itachi.

"How did we…?" Shisui delicately asked, part of him still couldn't believe he was alive.

"You both owe your lives to Aburame Shibi, were it not for his cautious nature, you would have succumbed to the poison long before the medics could identify the poison, let alone synthesize an antidote."

Shisui felt his heartbeat speed up, the realisation of how close he had come to death hitting him like a well placed punch. He should have been used to it by now, how often was he out on dangerous missions for the Village? How often had he come upon ambushes? How often had he and his squad come upon an enemy that outnumbered them two to one?

"The anbu who attacked you, his name was Aburame Yōji, before Danzō recruited him into his own branch of the anbu he was a member of the Aburame clan. He was also the only member capable of using the insects that you saw. Shibi was careful enough to take a sample of their poison and produce an antidote a few years back. In case of an emergency," Minato explained.

"They were connected after all."

"Yes, we now know how the killer was connected to Danzō."

"Will that be enough to get him?"

"No," Minato confessed, "but with your help I might be able to do something about Root."

"How can I help?"


	13. Chapter 13

Including their three days of unconsciousness, it took the two boys a total of six days before the medics cleared them to go home. Their Hokage was informed through the report that in no way were they cleared for duty. Any duty. The only reason they weren't even in the hospital anymore was that the beds were needed and they should be fine as long as they allowed their bodies to repair the damage.

Mikoto had invited Shisui to stay with them for the duration of his recovery and as much as he wanted to refuse he wasn't stupid, it hurt to walk, sometimes it even hurt to breath, he didn't want to imagine how hard it would be for him to manage his own care in this state.

Itachi, who had been under the effect of the poison for longer, and whose body had always been a bit frailer than Shisui's, was carried home. Shisui didn't think he would see the day Fugaku would carry his oldest son home on his back like Shisui had done for the boy before he grew too close to Shisui height.

Little Sasuke walked between his parents, his tiny hand wrapped around his brother's ankle like he was afraid Itachi would vanish if he wasn't touching him at all times.

A part of Shisui was glad that he had no one that he would worry to death when this kind of situation happened, but another, bigger and far more selfish, wished he did have someone the same way Itachi did.

His thoughts drifted to Seiko's store, located at the end of the street they were walking down now. He hadn't seen her in a few days, strange because he could have sworn the treats that had been left at their hospital room had been from her. He remembered the taste of her nikuman and the blissed-out look on Itachi's face while he devoured the dango was the same one he wore every time they went to her store. He should drop by and thank her for making their stay a little more bearable.

Thinking about Seiko reminded him that now that Danzo was almost out of the picture, he didn't know what the council expected out of him. Knowing them, they would want him to get married anyway, why waste the time they had put into finding all those girls?

"That girl, she dropped by often when you were still asleep," Mikoto whispered, Shisui hadn't noticed her falling in step with him, his gaze caught by the dango shaped sign hanging over the store's doorway. "You were particularly talkative whenever she came into the room."

Shisui felt his ears warm. He didn't remember that. "Re-really?" he asked, a nervous laugh spilling out. "I don't remember her visiting."

"She stopped after you woke up."

Shisui came to a stop at the entrance to the store. There was a feeling welling up in his chest, a want he had felt many times before but never had it been directed at one specific person. He wanted- no, he needed- to feel the same way he had felt when Seiko had touched his hand back in Ichiraku's, he needed to feel her confidence in the way her grasp on his fingers was firm but at the same time comforting. She, the civilian, had made him feel safe, and how ridiculous was that? He was a trained ninja but here he was desperate for a girl's touch to wipe away the stain Aburame Yōji's murder had left on his body, on his soul.

"Thank you for your offer, Mikoto-san, but, there's something I have to do before I can rest," he spoke, the stutter leaving his voice as he grew confident in what he wanted.

If he looked back he would have seen the way Mikoto was hiding a smile behind her hand, but he was an Uchiha on a mission and we all know they were hardly the kind to look back once their mind was made up.

* * *

Seiko wasn't at the store, but one of her waitresses was kind enough to remind Shisui that today was one of the days Seiko spent at the academy teaching the kids.

It made sense, just because Sasuke had a free pass to accompany his brother home from the hospital, it didn't mean the rest of the world had to stop for them, too.

Multiple times through the trek to the academy he had had to stop and catch his breath, he hadn't been lying when he had said it hurt to walk. A walk that shouldn't have taken more than fifteen minutes took him easily three times as much and by the time he made it to the academy, sweat was pouring down his temples and back.

There was a class of students training their shuriken throw outside, an older shinobi with his hair up in a high ponytail, moving between the three lines to give each student specific pointers. The man turned when he noticed him and Shisui recognised him as one of the few ninjas who sat with Minato when the Hokage was handing out missions.

"Uchiha-san, you are a bit early, classes won't let out for another half an hour," the man informed him, a furrow forming just a little above the horizontal scar on his face. "Are you alright, you don't look too good."

Shisui resisted the itch to wipe his forehead clean of sweat. "Can you tell me where I can find Uchiha Seiko? I need to speak to her."

"Seiko-san is teaching a class in room three but unless it's urgent I would ask that you don't disrupt them."

"I can wait."

Despite his words, Shisui pushed past the man and made his way into the building. It had little with him wanting to interrupt her class and a lot to do with Shisui needing to sit down.

The other shinobi didn't follow.

Once class ended and the room in front of him began to empty, Shisui felt a little more like himself, he didn't find a bench but the wall was more than capable of supporting his weight while he caught his breath.

Seiko didn't leave with the rest of her class, Shisui saw her making her way through the rows where the students sat, collecting papers that had been left behind.

He entered the classroom and closed the door behind him.

"I see they finally let you out of the hospital," she commented, without looking up from her task.

Shisui could have sworn he hadn't made any noise. "How did you know?"

"I saw you come into the academy through the window. Didn't see you leave. And I had Sasuke's class earlier today, he wasn't there, so I put two and two together."

Not exactly what he was asking but he would take it.

"You gave everyone quite the scare," she informed him and Shisui found himself pinned under her scolding glare.

"Were you scared for me, too?"

"Of course not," she walked closer, a smile growing on her lips, "the pride and joy of the Uchiha clan would never go down like that," she paused, "and I guess you're not too bad yourself."

A laugh escaped him, and god that hurt, he didn't know why he thought it wouldn't. He must have shown some of that pain on his face because Seiko quickly took the stairs down to him. Her tiny hands reached for his arm, guiding him to one of the desks.

"I'm fine," he promised, taking one of those warm hands in his.

"You're not fine, you're pale and I can tell you're in pain," she scolded, using the hand he hadn't stolen to push the sweaty bangs away from his forehead.

Shisui leaned into the touch, he must still have a little bit of fever because while her hands felt warm in his, they felt cool against his face. "I wanted to see you."

"I would have come to visit, you know, eventually."

"Would you?" he asked, watching her through lowered lashes. "You stopped coming to the hospital."

"The council told me they didn't need my services any longer," she confessed, "like I was some sort of concubine they had paid to keep you company. It was… upsetting."

"Don't mind them, what do they know?" he murmured. "I'm the only one who can tell you to leave me alone and I won't."

Maybe it was his vulnerable condition, or maybe it was the way she hadn't pulled away from him yet, her thumb stroking absent-minded circles on his cheek, whatever the reason was, he could feel the want begin to bubble inside his chest. Want for a hug or a kiss, he wasn't sure, but he knew he wanted more. When he had decided to seek Seiko out he had been sure holding her hand would be enough to get himself some comfort but he had become greedy without noticing. Her hand, no matter how soft and gentle, was far from satisfying.

"Seiko…" he murmured, leaning away from the solid desk keeping him upright. "I will never ask you to leave," his rough fingers touched the soft skin of her neck, curling just a little into her nape to guide her closer. "I want you to stay for as long as you'll put up with me."

"What are you saying?" her eyes were so wide he could see how the black in them caught the light, turning a steely dark grey.

"Can I kiss you?"

They were so close that when Seiko let out a shuddering breath it fanned across his lips. She nodded very slowly and her eyes fell shut, long dark lashes brushing the pink, flushed skin of her cheeks. It was a strange moment to notice that they were finally the same height but he was glad he didn't have to tilt his head up to reach her lips.

Their noses brushed first, a small affectionate gesture that had her lips curl sweetly. Shisui smiled back, nuzzling her cheek. He was so nervous that his hand trembled in hers until she slid their fingers between each other and squeezed. Her lips pressed a peck against his cheek and then another to the corner of his lips, like butterfly wings teasing his skin before fluttering away.

His eyes fell shut against his will at the first press of her lips to his. Even if he had wanted to keep them open (which he didn't), he wouldn't have been able to, not when he could feel how perfect her bottom lip felt between his.

Shisui had never kissed anyone before, he didn't know how to do it so he followed Seiko's lead, moving his lips with the same kind of slow, gentle caress that she did. It was an amazing sensation, not just the way his lips were tingling from the new experience but also how Seiko's familiar scent and warmth were turning his sore muscles to putty.

When Seiko started to pull away, Shisui tried to follow, too far gone into the sensation of the kiss to want it to end. Their lips parted with a slick sound that had the back of his neck turn red.

"Seiko…" he sighed into the skin of her neck, she shuddered. "Can we do that again?"

And they did, again and again until their lips turned cherry red and hurt from overstimulation, until Shisui could barely keep his eyes open from the exhaustion that suddenly hit him once he was no longer focused on how Seiko's lips were making him feel. She walked him home to make sure he didn't fall into a ditch somewhere and when he pulled her close for a last goodnight kiss, she went willingly.


End file.
